Progress in HIV-1 integrase inhibitors: A review of their chemical structure diversity

HIV-1 integrase (IN) enzyme, one of the three main enzymes of HIV-1, catalyzed the insertion of the viral DNA into the genome of host cells. Because of the lack of its homologue in human cells and its essential role in HIV-1 replication, IN inhibition represents an attractive therapeutic target for HIV-1 treatment. Since identification of IN as a promising therapeutic target, a major progress has been made, which has facilitated and led to the approval of three drugs. This review focused on the structural features of the most important IN inhibitors and categorized them structurally in 10 scaffolds. We also briefly discussed the structural and functional properties of HIV-1 IN and binding modes of IN inhibitors. The SAR analysis of the known IN inhibitors provides some useful clues to the possible future discovery of novel IN inhibitors.