Enfuvirtide also called human immunodeficiency fusion inhibitor blocks HIV’s ability to infect healthy CD4 cells. It can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood and increase the number of CD4 cells. Enfuvirtide operates by disrupting the HIV-1 molecular machinery at the final phase of fusion with the target cell, preventing uninfected cells from becoming infected. Enfuvirtide mimics components of the HIV-1 fusion apparatus and displace them, preventing normal fusion. HIV attaches to the host CD4+ cell receptor using the viral protein GP120; upon binding, GP120 deforms allowing the viral protein GP41 to insert itself into the host cell's plasma membrane. Entry inhibitors bind to GP41 preventing the formation of an entry pore for the capsid of the virus, keeping it out of the cell.
Enfuvirtide has an amino acid sequence CH3CO-Tyr-Thr-Ser-Leu-Ile-His-Ser-Leu-Ile-Glu-Glu-Ser-Gln-Asn-Gln-Gln-Glu-Lys-Asn-Glu-Gln-Glu-Leu-Leu-Glu-Leu-Asp-Lys-Trp-Ala-Ser-Leu-Trp-Asn-Trp-Phe-NH2, molecular formula of C204H301N51O64 and a molecular weight of 4492 Dalton.
