Protease inhibitors
(PIs)
Protease inhibitors interrupt HIV replication at a late stage in its life cycle. PIs interfere with the enzyme known as protease.
Protease is responsible for cutting the long inactive protein strands, that were created during viral protein synthesis, into active viral component proteins.
Without protease, those long strands remain inactive and the virion fails to mature.
Drugs in this class include:
Instant Feedback:
Click
on the interactive diagram HIV
Virus: Anatomy and Physiology and study the Maturation link.
Be
ready to answer the following question:
Protease inhibitors interfere with maturation of HIV by cutting p55 and p160.