October 13, 2008

New Anti-HIV Drug Target Discovered

Scientists at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles (USC) have uncovered the atomic structure of our bodies’ natural built-in antiviral factor, called APOBEC-3G. The discovery could possibly clear an extra pathway for developing new antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, according to a letter about the process published in the journal Nature.

Other scientists have previously described how APOBEC-3G can work as an antiviral drug inside human cells, keeping viruses from binding to the genes. Unfortunately, HIV carries a protein with it called VIF, which binds to APOBEC-3G, thus disabling its antiviral potential.

Now, however, a USC team of molecular and computational biologists led by Xiaojiang Chen, PhD, have uncovered the atomic structure of the active portion of APOBEC-3G to which the VIF protein binds. This could now allow chemists to design drugs that would bind to the VIF protein; that, in turn, would keep VIF from disabling APOBEC-3G, thus allowing the body’s naturally occurring antiretroviral to fight HIV.

Search: APOBEC-3G, VIF, USC, Xiaojiang Chen

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Marcos, São Paulo-Brazil, 2008-10-16 11:19:21
These news match with others that seem to conceive a new way of combatting the virus, that is, to enhance our body to win it. If so, I -as a pharmacist and pozi since last year- only have to applause this new approuch.