Zika virus drug targets: a missing link in drug design and discovery - a route map to fill the gap

Zika virus is an emerging virus that has been defined by the World Health Organization as a serious global biological-threat. Zika virus is an arbovirus from the flavivirus genus that is linked to microcephaly after prenatal transmission from the infected mother and most recently Guillain-Barre Syndrome. The need for innovative research methods is urgent due to the ambiguity surrounding Zika virus. The lack of experimental data regarding potential drug targets, strategies for design and drug resistance has prompted us to provide a comprehensive framework with structured theoretical and technical guidelines on potential drug targets, modeling and design of inhibitors against the virus, thus assisting and encouraging scientists from different research domains to fill the gap in this research area. We have also presented a 3D homology model of the ideal Zika viral target, the non-structural protein 5, identified the active binding sites of each domain of the protein and found potential compounds that may act as inhibitors. This report will be immensely beneficial toward the design of Zika virus drug inhibitors.