Human parainfluenza virus (hPIV) is highly infectious and the leading cause of upper and lower respiratory tract disease in young children, including Croup, which is responsible for thousands of hospitalizations in the developed world, and hundreds of thousands of deaths each year in developing countries.

Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics
Director Professor Mark von Itzstein said his Group's research findings published in Nature Communications today provide a new direction towards the discovery of anti-viral drugs against hPIV.

"hPIV gains entry to human respiratory epithelial cells by attaching to carbohydrate receptors. They then enter cells and reproduce rapidly, causing illness," he said."In this study, we used a multi-disciplinary approach to develop potent inhibitors that target a structural feature within the hPIV type 3 haemagglutinin-neuraminidase (hPIV-3 HN).

"These dual acting designer inhibitors represent the most potent designer compounds and efficiently block both HPIV cell entry and virion progeny release. To date, neither antiviral drugs nor vaccines are approved for clinical use against human parainfluenza virus, which reinforces the urgent need for new therapeutic discovery strategies.

"This discovery will advance research in the design and synthesis of new drugs that may stop infection by hPIV."