Current antiviral drugs are limited because of their adverse side effects and increased rate of resistance. In recent decades, much scientific effort has been invested in the discovery of new synthetic and natural compounds with promising antiviral properties. Among this new generation of compounds, antimicrobial peptides with antiviral activity have been described and are attracting attention due to their mechanism of action and biological properties. To understand the potential of antiviral peptides (AVPs), we analyse the antiviral activity of well-known AVP families isolated from different natural sources, discuss their physical–chemical properties, and demonstrate how AVP databases can guide us to design synthetic AVPs with better therapeutic properties. All considerations in this sphere of antiviral therapy clearly demonstrate the remarkable contribution that AVPs may make in conquering old as well as newly emerging viruses that plague humanity.

中文翻译：

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天然抗菌肽作为新型抗病毒药物的来源

目前的抗病毒药物因其不良副作用和耐药率增加而受到限制。近几十年来，在发现具有前景的抗病毒特性的新合成和天然化合物方面投入了大量科学努力。在这一新一代化合物中，已经描述了具有抗病毒活性的抗菌肽，并因其作用机制和生物学特性而受到关注。为了了解抗病毒肽 (AVP) 的潜力，我们分析了从不同天然来源中分离出来的知名 AVP 家族的抗病毒活性，讨论了它们的理化特性，并展示了 AVP 数据库如何指导我们设计具有更好治疗效果的合成 AVP特性。