Molecular mechanisms of HIV infection: viral factors and cellular accomplices.
Int Conf AIDS 1996 Jul 7-12; 11:2 (abstract no. We.11) Trono D; The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA. Fax: 619-534-7760. E-mail: didier_trono@qm.salk.edu.
Our growing understanding of HIV molecular biology reveals important clues on AIDS pathogenesis, and suggests novel approaches for the development and monitoring of antiviral therapies. Keys to HIV replication reside in critical interactions between virally encoded factors and normal intracellular pathways. In this lecture, emphasis will be placed on new therapeutic opportunities revealed by the discovery of mechanisms that govern the early stages of the infectious process. Recent insights into the roles played by the viral matrix (MA), Vpr and integrase (IN) proteins in facilitating HIV nuclear import, as well as into the cellular components involved in this process, will thus be described. In addition, new evidences which tie Nef and a cellular protein kinase with the phosphorylation of a component of the viral nucleoprotein complex will be revealed. Finally, the results of experiments analyzing the role of various viral factors in vivo, obtained in an animal model with an HIV-derived retroviral vector, will be presented. These data will be interpreted within the broader context of therapeutic approaches currently used to prevent the spread of HIV in infected individuals.
Keywords: AEGIS, HIV Infections, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Virus Replication, Integrase, Anti-HIV Agents, Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors, HIV Integrase Inhibitors, Active Transport, Cell Nucleus, Antiviral Agents, virology, ICA11
