VOLUME 18 NUMBER 1 (January to June 2025)

The parasite’s parasite: Exploring virophages’ antiviral strategies in developing current and novel antiviral therapies

Pathogenic viruses exert a profound impact on a population by infecting and parasitizing their hosts. Apart from the immune system, there are few known natural mechanisms that inhibit the replication and propagation of viruses within a cell. Recently, a new class of subviral particles, virophages, has been identified and described. They parasitize giant viruses and limit their growth within a cellular population. In this review, we explore the parasitic and antiviral tactics employed by sputnik and mavirus, the two most well-characterized virophages, against their viral hosts. Additionally, we discuss how their strategies compare to existing antiviral therapies and highlight specific areas of research that may help fully elucidate the virophages’ mechanisms, which offer promising insights into the development of existing and novel antiviral therapeutics.