Flaviviruses (family Flaviviridae) and coronaviruses (family Coronaviridae) both belong to single-stranded positive-sense RNA (+RNA) viruses. Unfortunately both of these families proved that they have a pandemic potential which was demonstrated recently by the ZIKV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV outbreaks. Therefore, effective treatment strategies are urgently needed to treat patients infected with flaviviruses [1, 2].
Flaviviruses are large group of viruses known for their ability to cause human infections. These viruses can cause diverse diseases, such as encephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis, hemorrhagic fevers or congenital abnormalities and fetal death [3].
SARS-CoV-2 has caused an extensive pandemic of COVID-19 all around the world. Key viral enzymes are suitable molecular targets for the development of new antivirals against SARS-CoV-2. With respect to its essential role in the replication of viral RNA, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is one of the prime targets [4].
We demonstrate that various compounds inhibit
RNA synthesis by viral RdRps. We use in vitro polymerase
assays to show that these compounds interfere with RNA syntheses
performed by the RdRps.