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The crystal structure of enterovirus 71 suggests that antiviral compounds may require a hydrophilic head group to interact with residues at the pocket entrance.
Enterovirus 71 is a picornavirus associated with fatal neurological illness in infants and young children. Here, we report the crystal structure of enterovirus 71 and show that, unlike in other enteroviruses, the "pocket factor," a small molecule that stabilizes the virus, is partly exposed on the floor of the "canyon." Thus, the structure of antiviral compounds may require a hydrophilic head group designed to interact with residues at the entrance of the pocket.
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Plevka et al. (2012) studied this question.
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