Virtual Screening of Novel Hiv-1 Entry Inhibitors Blocking Cd4-Binding Site of the Virus Envelope Gp120 Protein

Virtual screening of novel anti-HIV agents presenting potential peptidomimetics of cellular receptor CD4 was carried out and evaluation of their inhibitory activity was performed by molecular modeling tools. As a result, five chemical compounds exhibiting, with the designed data, a high affinity to the CD4-binding site of the HIV-1 gp120 protein, which is a functionally conserved epitope of the viral envelope, were identified. In this context, the selected compounds are considered as potential broad-spectrum HIV-1 entry inhibitors.