Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 4, Issue 10, 2004

Just as the decimation of people and societies by the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) over the past two decades is alarming, the science spawned by its causative agent, the type-1 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) is impressive. This second collection of reviews on recent advances in the treatment of HIV Infection in Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry (Also see: CTMC, 3(13), 2003) is a testimonial Read More

Historically, therapeutic benefit in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV-1) infection has been best achieved by targeting viral proteins like HIV protease involved in viral replication rather than host cell proteins, like CD4, which facilitate the process of viral infection. Two discoveries in 1996 presented a novel opportunity to redress this issue: 1) the understanding that heptahelical G-protein coupled chemo Read More

HIV encodes an RNA directed DNA polymerase (reverse transcriptase, RT) that is an essential enzyme in the viral replication cycle. This enzyme catalyzes the synthesis of double stranded proviral DNA from single stranded genomic RNA via a bireactant-biproduct mechanism. The functional enzyme purified from virus particles is a complex consisting of two polypeptides of molecular weight 66,000 and 51,000. Two of the four Read More

Since their discovery, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) have become one of the cornerstones of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). Currently, three NNRTI agents, efavirenz, nevirapine and delavirdine are commercially available. Efavirenz and nevirapine, used in combination with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), provide durable regimens with efficacy comparable to protease i Read More

AIDS is currently treated with a combination therapy of reverse transcriptase and protease inhibitors. Recently, the FDA approved a drug targeting HIV-1 entry into cells. There are currently no FDA approved drugs targeting HIV-1 integrase, though many scientists and drug companies are actively in pursuit of clinically useful integrase inhibitors. The objective of this review is to provide an update on integrase inhibitors repo Read More

There are currently (July, 2002) six protease inhibitors approved for the treatment of HIV infection, each of which can be classified as peptidomimetic in structure. These agents, when used in combination with other antiretroviral agents, produce a sustained decrease in viral load, often to levels below the limits of quantifiable detection, and a significant reconstitution of the immune system. Therapeutic regimens c Read More

The past decade has seen many exciting achievements and advances in the treatment of HIV infection. One of the key components in this ever-evolving remedial strategy has been medicinally efficacious enzymatic inhibitors targeting the essential viral aspartyl protease. While the use of currently approved HIV protease inhibitors in concert with drugs that target the reverse transcriptase has dramatically ameliorated the Read More