Progress in studies of structure, mechanism and antagonists interaction of GPCR co-receptors for HIV

Chemokine receptors are G protein-coupled receptors that contain seven trans-membrane domains. CXCR4 and CCR5 as major co-receptors for HIV-1 entry into host cells are implicated in cancer and inflammation. They have been attractive targets for the pharmaceutical industry basing on their roles in HIV disease. Homology modeling, molecular docking, molecular dynamics, Molecular Mechanics/Generalized Born Surface Area and many other computational methods are applied to illustrate the structure, function and binding site of GPCR. Moreover, the high resolution crystal structures of CXCR4 and CCR5 have provided extremely valuable structural information and receptor activation mechanisms, enable structure-based drug discovery for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. We also describe the recent progress about the small molecule antagonists of CXCR4 and CCR5 and the interaction between GPCR and their ligands predicted by molecular docking and molecular dynamics methods. Future research questions and further investigations are outlined to highlight some researches that may be relevant to the advancement of therapies targeting the important receptor related with HIV.