Conventional Understanding of SARS‐CoV‐2 M^pro and Common Strategies for Developing Its Inhibitors

Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic has brought a widespread influence on the world, especially in the face of sudden coronavirus infections, and there is still an urgent need for specific small molecule therapies to cope with possible future pandemics. The pathogen responsible for this pandemic is SARS‐CoV‐2, and understanding its structure and lifecycle is beneficial for designing specific drugs of treatment for COVID‐19. The main protease (Mpro) which has conservative and specific advantages is essential for viral replication and transcription. It is regarded as one of the most potential targets for anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 drug development. This review introduces the popular knowledge of SARS‐CoV‐2 in drug development and lists a series of design principles and relevant activities of advanced Mpro inhibitors.