The Molecules of HIV
Note: this site last updated in 2006
lamivudine
An article from "The Molecules of HIV" (c) Dan Stowell
www.mcld.co.uk/hiv
www.mcld.co.uk/hiv
The chemical name is (2R,cis)-4-amino-1-(2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-oxathiolan-5-yl)-(1H)-pyrimidin-2-one, and it's also known by the trade names EPIVIR and 3TC.
Lamivudine is a chemical synthesised to have similarities with the nucleoside cytidine. When inside a cell, it is phosphorylated to become lamivudine-triphosphate (L-TP), and this is its active form. L-TP is a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, and it works because it can be incorporated into a DNA chain being synthesised.
Lamivudine is a constituent of Combivir.
Written by
Dan Stowell
(©2002-2006)
