Slow binding-tight binding interaction between benzimidazol-2-one inhibitors and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase containing the lysine 103 to asparagine mutation.

Novel benzimidazol-2-one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) have been recently identified, through rational structure-based molecular modeling and docking approaches, as highly effective inhibitors of the wild type and drug-resistant HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT). These compounds also showed potent anti-HIV activities against viral strains, superior to the clinically approved NNRTI efavirenz. However, they were still of limited efficacy towards the K103N mutant.