Highly Potent HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors with Novel Tricyclic P2 Ligands: Design, Synthesis, and Protein-Ligand X-ray Studies.
Ghosh, A.K., Parham, G.L., Martyr, C.D., Nyalapatla, P.R., Osswald, H.L., Agniswamy, J., Wang, Y.F., Amano, M., Weber, I.T., Mitsuya, H.(2013) J Med Chem 56: 6792-6802
- PubMed: 23947685 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jm400768f
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
4KB9 - PubMed Abstract: 
The design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a series of HIV-1 protease inhibitors incorporating stereochemically defined fused tricyclic P2 ligands are described. Various substituent effects were investigated to maximize the ligand-binding site interactions in the protease active site. Inhibitors 16a and 16f showed excellent enzyme inhibitory and antiviral activity, although the incorporation of sulfone functionality resulted in a decrease in potency. Both inhibitors 16a and 16f maintained activity against a panel of multidrug resistant HIV-1 variants. A high-resolution X-ray crystal structure of 16a-bound HIV-1 protease revealed important molecular insights into the ligand-binding site interactions, which may account for the inhibitor's potent antiviral activity and excellent resistance profiles.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Chemistry and Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Purdue University , West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States.