title: HIV-1 entry - an expanding portal for drug discovery.
abstract: The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)-combinations of protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitors-provided a potent and clinically effective method of suppressing viral load in HIV-1- infected individuals. However, although initially successful, a broader clinical experience has revealed limitations in this therapeutic regimen, with up to 40% of treated individuals ultimately failing to sustain control over viral replication. Significant advances in understanding the process by which HIV-1 enters host cells have brought into clear focus a target for drug discovery not represented in the current clinical armamentarium. In this article, the mechanism of HIV-1 entry is reviewed in the context of representative antiviral agents that interfere with key steps in this process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, The Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, PO Box 5100, Wallingford, CT 06492, USA.
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Blair
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Meanwell
authors.initials: OB
authors.lastname: Wallace