Revisiting the mechanism of enfuvirtide and designing an analog with improved fusion inhibitory activity by targeting triple sites in gp41

Conclusion: Results suggest that T20 has a double-target mechanism, by which its N-terminal and C-terminal portions bind to N-terminal heptad repeat and FPPR, respectively. T20-SF designed based on this new mechanism exhibits significantly improved anti-HIV-1 activity because it targets the triple sites in gp41, including N-terminal heptad repeat, FPPR, and fusion peptide. Thus, this study provides clues for designing novel HIV fusion inhibitors with improved antiviral activity.
Source: AIDS - Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: BASIC SCIENCE Source Type: research