Technische Universität München

Potential drug molecule shows enhanced anti-HIV activity

Small change locks molecule into shape, yields major effect

Researchers from Munich, including TUM-IAS Carl von Linde Senior Fellow Prof. Horst Kessler, and Naples have shown that minimal modification of a synthetic peptide with anti-HIV activity results in a new compound with more than two orders of magnitude higher binding affinity to the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and greatly improved anti-HIV activity. This could be a step toward the design of new, more effective drugs against AIDS, inflammatory diseases, and some forms of cancer.

The whole press release can be found here.