Mechanistic inhibition of herpes simplex virus-1 UL21 immune-evasion function by natural-product scaffolds: A multi-tier docking, dynamics, and energetic profiling approach
Alpha-herpesviruses, particularly herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), establish lifelong latency and employ multiple strategies to evade host immunity, thereby sustaining infection. A key mediator of this immune evasion is the viral tegument protein, unique long 21 (UL21), which disrupts the host cyclic GMP-AMP syntha...