Sealing the Envelope - The HIV-1 Envelope Glycoproteins as Targets for Therapeutics and Vaccines

HIV-1 is an enveloped virus that derives its lipid envelope from the virus producing cell. The envelope glycoprotein complex (Env) mediates viral attachment to and entry in susceptible target cells and is therefore an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. The T20 peptide (Fuzeon, enfuvirtide), targeting the Env fusion machinery, was approved for clinical use in 2003 and served as salvage therapy for many HIV-1 infected individuals for whom no other effective inhibitors were available because of the development of viral resistance. The approval in 2007 of the small molecule inhibitor maraviroc (Selzentry, Celsentri), targeting the coreceptor CCR5, marked a new era for entry inhibitors, which now occupy a mature position in the repertoire of antiviral drugs available to clinicians