Review Question - QID 106845

The medication that acts on the gp41 subunit of the HIV envelope glycoprotein is enfuvirtide.

Maraviroc and enfuvirtide are antiviral, fusion inhibitors that block viral attachment, penetration, or uncoating. Maraviroc functions by blocking the CCR5 protein on the T-cell surface thus inhibiting the entry of virus into T-cells. In contrast, enfuvirtide binds to the gp41 subunit of the HIV envelope glycoprotein preventing a conformational change (remember ENfuvirtide and ENvelope). This inhibits the fusion of the virus to T cells. Resistance arises to these medications via mutations in the env gene.

Incorrect Answers:
Answer 1-2: Amantadine and rimantadine binds to the M2 protein in influneza A thus preventing viral uncoating.
Answer 3: Zidovudine is a reverse transcriptase inhibitor.
Answer 4: Saquinavir is a protease inhibitor.