Amino functionalized novel cholic acid derivatives induce HIV-1 replication and syncytia formation in T cells.

Synthesis of C-11 azido/amino functionalized cholic acid derivatives has been achieved in excellent yields. Contrary to the previous prediction of analogous compounds to be HIV-1 protease inhibitors, in the present study these novel cholic acid derivatives induced host cell fusion during the progress of HIV-1 infection and produced multinucleated giant cells. This is the first report of syncytia induction and enhancement of viral replication in HIV-1 infected T cells by cholic acid derivatives.