Structural insights into proteins from white spot syndrome virus: Perspectives on structure‐based anti‐viral strategies

Abstract White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) causes severe disease in crustaceans, specifically shrimp, leading to substantial economic losses to the aquaculture industry. Existing treatment methods fail to sufficiently curb the occurrence and spread of the disease, necessitating the development of effective control and treatment strategies. Structural studies have primarily focused on envelope proteins and a few non‐structural proteins involved in host entry, viral replication, viral assembly and host immune evasion, thus presenting themselves as potential drug targets. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the insights gained from such structural elucidations to contribute to developing novel therapeutic strategies. In addition, we touch upon the current and future perspectives towards structure‐based drug or vaccine development against WSSV.