Fusion inhibitors are a class of antiretroviral drugs used to prevent entry of HIV into host cells. Many of the fusion inhibitors being developed, including the drug enfuvirtide, are peptides designed to competitively inhibit the viral fusion protein gp41. With the emergence of drug resistance, there is an increased need for effective and unique alternatives within this class of antivirals. One...

We describe a genetic system that allows in vivo screening or selection of site-specific proteases and of their cognate-specific inhibitors in Escherichia coli. This genetic test is based on the specific proteolysis of a signaling enzyme, the adenylate cyclase (AC) of Bordetella pertussis. As a model system we used the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease. When an HIV protease processing...

human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (hiv-1) protease inhibitors comprise an important class of drugs used in hiv treatments. however, mutations of protease genes accelerated by low fidelity of reverse transcriptase yield drug resistant mutants of reduced affinities for the inhibitors. this problem is considered to be a serious barrier against hiv treatment for the foreseeable future. in this st...

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transmission takes place primarily through cell-cell contacts known as virological synapses. Formation of these transient adhesions between infected and uninfected cells can lead to transmission of viral particles followed by separation of the cells. Alternatively, the cells can fuse, thus forming a syncytium. Tetraspanins, small scaffolding proteins ...

several nonpeptide small molecules were designed as potential inhibitors of hiv protease and their structures were constructed by computer-aided molecular modeling and docked iwo the active site of hiv protease. models of the complexes of inhibitors and the hiv protease were refined using nonbonded and h-bonding terms. the refined energy of selected complexes showed that the designed inhibitors...

BACKGROUND The baseline susceptibility of primary HIV-2 to maraviroc (MVC) and other entry inhibitors is currently unknown. METHODS The susceptibility of 19 HIV-2 isolates obtained from asymptomatic and AIDS patients and seven HIV-1 clinical isolates to the fusion inhibitors enfuvirtide (ENF) and T-1249, and to the coreceptor antagonists AMD3100, TAK-779 and MVC, was measured using a TZM-bl c...

HIV entry into target cells is a highly sequential and time-sensitive process. In recent years, potent HIV Env-targeting antibodies, such as VRC01, have been identified. However, antibodies bind only to a single epitope, and mutations that confer resistance to antibody-mediated inhibition of HIV entry have been detected. In contrast, HIV cannot escape from binding to soluble CD4 (sCD4) without ...

Fusion inhibitors are novel antiretroviral agents, administered as subcutaneous injections, approved for use in treatment-experienced HIV-infected patients. HIV-infected patients are at increased risk for Staphylococcus aureus colonization, specifically with methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA), and subsequent systemic infection. We present the cases of 2 patients without a history of MRSA inf...

OBJECTIVES Peptides derived from the C-terminal heptad repeat (CHR) of HIV-1 gp41 are potent fusion inhibitors. We have recently demonstrated that the unique M-T hook structure preceding the pocket-binding motif of CHR peptide-based inhibitors can greatly improve their antiviral activity. In this study, we applied the M-T hook structure to optimize sifuvirtide (SFT), a potent CHR-derived inhibi...