An antibody that binds to an antigen and has an effect. For example, neutralizing antibodies inactivate HIV or prevent it from infecting other cells. One of a group of primitive, nonvascular organisms including mushrooms, yeasts, rusts, and molds. Fungi, which were once classified as plants, have since been reclassified as unmoving organisms that lack chlorophyll. Some fungi are single-celled but differ from bacteria in that they have a distinct nucleus and other cellular structures.
Reproduction is accomplished by spores.
As many as 150 of these organisms have now been linked to animal or human diseases. A class of antiretroviral agents that binds to the gp41 envelope protein and blocks the structural changes necessary for the virus to fuse with the host CD4 cell . When the virus cannot penetrate the host cell membrane and infect the cell, HIV replication within that host cell is prevented. Fusion is an integral step in the process whereby HIV enters cells.