A number of different viral families have developed convergent methods to infect cells. Class I fusion proteins are commonly used by members of Arenaviridae, Coronaviridae, Filovirdae, Orthomyxoviridae, Paramyxoviridae, and Retroviridae. Class I viral fusion proteins are trimers that are involved in recognizing the cellular receptor, with a region that is responsible for fusing the viral and target cell membranes. During the fusion process, the fusion region folds into a six-helix bundle (6 HB) which approximates the two membranes leading to fusion. For Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the gp41 subunit is responsible for the formation of this 6 HB. The fusion inhibitor drug enfuvirtide, or T20, is the only US Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency approved drug which targets this crucial step and has been widely used in combination regimens for the treatment of HIV since March 2003. In this review, we describe the current state of peptide-based fusion inhibitors in the treatment of HIV, and review how the field of HIV research is driving advances in the development of similar therapeutics in other viral systems, including the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronaviruses.

许多不同的病毒家族已经开发出趋同的方法来感染细胞。I 类融合蛋白通常被沙粒病毒科、冠状病毒科、丝状病毒科、正粘病毒科、副粘病毒科和逆转录病毒科的成员使用。I类病毒融合蛋白是参与识别细胞受体的三聚体，具有负责融合病毒和靶细胞膜的区域。在融合过程中，融合区域折叠成一个六螺旋束 (6 HB)，它接近导致融合的两个膜。对于人类免疫缺陷病毒 (HIV)，gp41 亚基负责形成这 6 个 HB。融合抑制剂药物恩夫韦肽，或 T20，