There are numerous proteases of pathogenic organisms that are currently targeted for therapeutic intervention along with many that are seen as potential drug targets. This review discusses the chemical and biological makeup of some key druggable proteases expressed by the five major classes of disease causing agents, namely bacteria, viruses, fungi, eukaryotes, and prions. While a few of these enzymes including HIV protease and HCV NS3‐4A protease have been targeted to a clinically useful level, a number are yet to yield any clinical outcomes in terms of antimicrobial therapy. A significant aspect of this review discusses the chemical and pharmacological characteristics of inhibitors of the various proteases discussed. A total of 25 inhibitors have been considered potent and safe enough to be trialed in humans and are at different levels of clinical application. We assess the mechanism of action and clinical performance of the protease inhibitors against infectious agents with their developmental strategies and look to the next frontiers in the use of protease inhibitors as anti‐infective agents.

中文翻译：

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蛋白酶和蛋白酶抑制剂在传染病中

目前，有许多致病性生物蛋白酶被靶向用于治疗干预，还有许多被视为潜在的药物靶标。这篇综述讨论了由五种主要致病因子（细菌，病毒，真菌，真核生物和病毒）表达的一些关键可药用蛋白酶的化学和生物学组成。尽管其中一些酶（包括HIV蛋白酶和HCV NS3-4A蛋白酶）已达到临床有用水平，但仍有许多酶在抗菌治疗方面未产生任何临床结果。该综述的重要方面讨论了所讨论的各种蛋白酶的抑制剂的化学和药理学特征。总共有25种抑制剂被认为具有足够的效力和安全性，可以在人体中进行试验，并且处于不同的临床应用水平。我们用其发展策略评估蛋白酶抑制剂对传染剂的作用机理和临床性能，并展望将蛋白酶抑制剂用作抗感染剂的新领域。