Pathogen Inhibition by Multivalent Ligand Architectures

Interfacial multivalent interactions at pathogen-cell interfaces can be competitively inhibited by multivalent scaffolds that prevent pathogen adhesion to the cells during the initial stages of infection. The lack of understanding of complex biological systems makes the design of an efficient multivalent inhibitor a toilsome task. Therefore, we have highlighted the main issues and concerns associated with blocking pathogen at interfaces, which are dependent on the nature and properties of both multivalent inhibitors and pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria. The challenges associated with different cores or carrier scaffolds of multivalent inhibitors are concisely discussed with selected examples.