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The Sound of Evolution
Efavirenz
Mechanism of action:
Efavirenz is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Rather than competing with nucleotides for the active binding site of viral reverse transcriptase, efavirenz binds to a hydrophobic allosteric region of the enzyme, reducing its conformational stability and catalytic activity, thereby inhibiting viral replication.
Reference(s):
1. Ren J et al. (2002). Structure of HIV-2 reverse transcriptase at 2.35-A resolution and the mechanism of resistance to non-nucleoside inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.
2. Robertson SM et al. (2005). A potentially significant interaction between efavirenz and phenytoin: a case report and review of the literature. Clin Infect Dis.
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