Susceptibility of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 to the maturation inhibitor bevirimat is modulated by baseline polymorphisms in Gag spacer peptide

In this study, we evaluated baseline susceptibility to bevirimat (BVM), the first in a new class of antiretroviral agents, maturation inhibitors. We evaluated susceptibility to BVM by complete gag genotypic and phenotypic testing of 20 patient-derived human immunodeficiency virus type 1 isolates and 20 site-directed mutants. We found that reduced BVM susceptibility was associated with naturally occurring polymorphisms at positions 6, 7, and 8 in Gag spacer peptide 1. Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.