Conformational Changes in HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase Induced by Nonnucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor Binding

Nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) are a group of small hydrophobic compounds with diverse structures that specifically inhibit HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT). NNRTIs interact with HIV-1 RT by binding to a single site on the p66 subunit of the p66/p51 heterodimeric enzyme, termed the NNRTI-binding pocket (NNRTI-BP). This binding interaction results in both short-range and long-range distortions of RT structure. In this article, we review the structural, computational and experimental evidence of the NNRTI-induced conformational changes in HIV-1 RT and relate them to the mechanism by which these compounds inhibit HIV-1 reverse transcription.