One Amino Acid Away from AIDS

2004年6月7日

One Amino Acid Away from AIDS

2004年6月7日

La Jolla, CA – The ability of the AIDS virus to infect one species and bypass another may hinge on a single amino acid, a Salk Institute study has found. The work builds on the knowledge that HIV, the AIDS virus that infects humans, is relatively harmless to mice and even monkeys. The study furthers understanding of how HIV infects specific species while sparing others, and may help in the eventual development of novel drugs that halt the disease.

Associate Professor Nathaniel Landau and colleagues Bärbel Schröfelbauer and Darlene Chen found that switching one amino acid in a protein that normally fends off HIV determines whether or not the virus successfully infects cells. The findings appeared in the March 16 issue of the 美国国家科学院院刊.

The protein, called APOBEC-3G, is part of the body’s defensive system and normally keeps HIV from infecting cells. HIV, however, has a hidden weapon in the form of a protein of its own called VIF (short for virion infectivity factor), which can disable APOBEC-3G and permit infection. However, VIF can block the APOBEC-3G antiviral defenses only in specific species, so AIDS viruses that infect monkeys do not normally infect humans, and human infectious HIV cannot infect cells of primates.

The single amino acid in APOBEC-3G, the team found, determined whether VIF could bind to it. In addition, Landau and his team found that VIF could not block mouse APOBEC-3G, which is why mice are immune to HIV infection.

“Vif is required for HIV-1 replication in cells, but we did not understand how one species could be infected while a different species resisted the virus,” said Landau. “These findings also give us clues about how to develop new drugs that will fight AIDS by blocking the interaction of VIF with APOBEC-3G.”

加利福尼亚州拉霍亚的索尔克生物学研究所（Salk Institute for Biological Studies）是一个独立的非营利组织，致力于在生命科学领域做出基础性发现，改善人类健康，并培养未来的研究人员。其脊髓灰质炎疫苗几乎根除了1955年令人衰弱的脊髓灰质炎疾病的乔纳斯·索尔克医学博士于1965年创立了该研究所，得到了圣地亚哥市赠送的土地以及“March of Dimes”组织的财政支持。.