Blocking the docking of HIV-1

摘要

There are estimated to be >42 million people worldwide who live with HIV-1 infection. Any novel means of treating infection therefore will be greeted with great interest. The current generation of antiretroviral drugs inhibits the viral enzymes, reverse transcriptase and protease (i), and where available has resulted in a 65% reduction of AIDS mortality. Nevertheless, new drugs will be needed as drug resistance emerges, and all steps in the replication of HIV-1 are fair game as potential drug targets (Fig. 1).