Synthetic peptides derived from HIV gp41HR2 and their use in therapy to prevent the spread of human immunodeficiency virus

摘要

Provided are synthetic peptides based on a native sequence of HIV gp41 HR2 except that the synthetic peptides have a plurality of amino acid replacements comprising (a) a helix-promoting amino acid, or (b) a combination of helix-promoting amino acids, and charged amino acids introduced to form ion pairs in the synthetic peptide; wherein the synthetic peptides demonstrate an unexpected, improved biological activity, as compared to a peptide having an amino acid sequence without the plurality of amino acid substitutions. Also provided are polynucleotides encoding synthetic peptide, and methods of using these synthetic peptides in inhibition of, or as compositions to inhibit, transmission of HIV to a target cell.