The Sound of Evolution
Tenofovir
Mechanism of action:
Tenofovir is a nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Inside cells, Tenofovir is phosphorylated by kinases into its active form, tenofovir diphosphate (not triphosphate). This molecule functionally resembles dATP and competes with dATP, allowing it to be mistakenly recognized and incorporated into newly synthesized viral DNA by HIV reverse transcriptase or HBV DNA polymerase. Because tenofovir lacks a 3'-OH group, viral DNA synthesis is terminated.
Reference(s):
1. Aloy B et al. (2016). Is Tenofovir Alafenamide Safer than Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate for the Kidneys? AIDS Rev.
2. Deeks ED et al. (2018). Bictegravir/Emtricitabine/Tenofovir Alafenamide: A Review in HIV-1 Infection. Drugs.
3. Ray AS et al. (2016). Tenofovir alafenamide: A novel prodrug of tenofovir for the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Antiviral Res.