Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) entry proceeds via a cascade of events that afford promising targets for therapy. PRO 542 neutralizes HIV-1 by blocking its attachment to CD4 cells, and T-20 blocks gp41-mediated fusion. Both drugs have shown promise in phase 1/2 clinical trials. Here, the drugs were tested individually and in combination in preclinical models of HIV-1 infection, and inhibition data were analyzed for cooperativity by using the combination index method. Synergistic inhibition of virus-cell and cell-cell fusion was observed for phenotypically diverse viruses for a broad range of drug concentrations, often resulting in ≥10-fold dose reductions in vitro. Additional mechanism-of-action studies probed the molecular basis of the synergies. The markedly enhanced activity observed for the PRO 542:T-20 combination indicates that the multistep nature of HIV-1 entry leaves the virus particularly vulnerable to combinations of entry inhibitors. These findings provide a strong rationale for evaluating combinations of these promising agents for therapy in vivo.
CITATION STYLE
Nagashima, K. A., Thompson, D. A. D., Rosenfield, S. I., Maddon, P. J., Dragic, T., & Olson, W. C. (2001). Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 entry inhibitors PRO 542 and T-20 are potently synergistic in blocking virus-cell and cell-cell fusion. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 183(7), 1121–1125. https://doi.org/10.1086/319284
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