text: There are several ways to target integrase but strand transfer inhibition is the most intuitively obvious and readily pursued to date. Other targets include, for example, the protein domains beyond the active site of IN. The domains interact with viral or host DNA and are important for binding to the enzyme. It is possible to hamper functions of the enzyme by disrupting or removing these bindings. PIC is a multimeric protein structure inside the host cell, composed of both viral and host proteins.  Integrase is a part of PICs viral component. PICs viral and host proteins are believed to modulate intrinsic activity of the enzyme, shuttle PIC to the nucleus and direct integration of viral DNA into a transcriptionally active region of the host genome. If it were possible to exclude certain proteins from the PIC it would block the ability of the virus to integrate into the host genome. The process where the retroviral RNA is transcribed to DNA and then integrated into the host cell's genome is shown in figure 2.