Modelling of anti-HSV activity of lactoferricin analogues using amino acid descriptors.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) causes a number of diseases and new therapies are being pursued vigorously. Earlier studies have shown that modified peptides based on lactoferricins reduce HSV-1 and HSV-2 infection, and structure-activity studies indicate that the anti-viral activity correlates with the binding affinity for heparan sulphate and chondroitin sulphate. In this study it is shown that theoretically derived amino acid descriptors can be used to model the anti-viral activity of peptides, as well as other peptide properties, even more accurately.