How do protease inhibitors interfere with HIV replication?

Protease inhibitors are a class of antiretroviral drugs that interfere with HIV replication by blocking the activity of a specific viral enzyme known as protease.1

During the viral life cycle, the protease enzyme is essential for the synthesis and maturation of new viral particles. By inhibiting this enzyme, these drugs prevent the virus from producing mature, infectious particles. Consequently, in the presence of a protease inhibitor, the virus can only produce noninfectious particles, which halts the spread of HIV to uninfected cells.12

Because HIV can develop resistance to single-agent therapies, protease inhibitors are typically used in combination with other antiretroviral agents—such as reverse transcriptase inhibitors—as part of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to effectively suppress viral replication.1