A mechanistic study of 3-aminoindazole cyclic urea HIV-1 protease inhibitors using comparative QSAR.

Comparative QSAR studies on P2/P2' and P1/P1' substituted symmetrical and nonsymmetrical 3-aminoindazole cyclic urea HIV-1 protease inhibitors were performed. The protease inhibitory activity of these compounds was found to decrease with larger and more hydrophobic molecules, whereas the antiviral potency and translation across the cell membrane increases with increase in hydrophobicity and size. These results provide mechanistic insight about the mode of interaction of these compounds with HIV-1 protease receptor and would help in further improving the biological activity.