Abstract

HIV integrase (IN) is a viral-encoded protein that catalyzes the breaking and joining reactions that mediate integration of viral DNA into the host genome. Therefore, IN offers a unique target for the development of novel anti-HIV and anti-AIDS therapeutics. To take advantage of this potential, drug discovery efforts via structure-based design approaches have been undertaken. Presented is a review of computer-aided drug design efforts targeting HIV IN. Included is an overview of the life-cycle of HIV, with emphasis on the mechanism of action of IN, biological assays for measuring IN activity and identifying IN inhibitors, and the appropriate cell-based assays required for determining the antiviral activity of IN inhibitors. This is followed by a review of the available three-dimensional structures of HIV IN. Structure-based drug design efforts are then critiqued, including both ligand-based (e.g. pharmacophore) and target-based (e.g. docking) methods. Results from recent computational chemistry studies of IN are also discussed.