Entry inhibitor

Entry inhibitors, also known as fusion inhibitors, are a class of antiviral drugs that prevent a virus from entering a cell, for example, by blocking a receptor.

This class of drugs interferes with the binding, fusion and entry of an HIV virion to a human cell.

[1] There are several key proteins involved in the HIV entry process.

[citation needed] HIV entry into a human cell requires the following steps in sequence.

[2][3] Entry inhibitors work by interfering with one aspect of this process.

An illustration of HIV entry mechanism and mechanisms of action (MOA) of two entry inhibitor, 5-Helix and C37.
An HIV virion binds to a CD4+ human cell. The two bottom pictures depict two proposed models of HIV fusion with the cell.