Friday, November 14, 2014

Original Insertion Location of HIV Virus Can Effect Its Virulence

        The HIV virus spreads by entering the human bloodstream, binding and invading human immune cells, and reprogramming the seized cells to create more HIV particles. The HIV protein integrase assists this attack on the human body by recognizing a short DNA segment and organizes the insertion of the viral DNA into its host DNA. The retroviral integrase can insert viral DNA into several places in human DNA.


        Researchers from KU Leuven, University of Leuven in Leuven, Belgium, have recently discovered how the virus selects its insertion points; the answer lies in two amino acids. First author of the study, Doctoral researcher Jonas Demeulemeester, said, "HIV integrase is made up of a chain of more than 200 amino acids folded into a structure. By modelling this structure, we found two positions in the protein that make direct contact with the DNA of the host. These two amino acids determine the integration site. This is not only the case for HIV, but also for related animal-borne viruses.
        The second part of the study consisted of manipulating the integration site choice of HIV. "We changed the specific HIV integrase amino acids for those of animal-borne viruses and found that the viral DNA integrated in the host DNA at locations where the animal-borne virus normally would have done so. We also showed that HIV integrases can vary. Sometimes different amino acids appeared in the two positions we identified. These variant viruses also integrate into the host DNA at a different site than the normal virus does," Professor Rik Gijsbers explained, summing up the second half of the study. In the end, they discovered that the disease progressed more quickly when the integration site was changed.

In this picture, the HIV protein integrase is blue and the viral DNA is red. The orange part at the bottom is the DNA of the human host.
        I have not known anybody with HIV, but I know it is a terrible illness to be diagnosed with. This discovery leaves room for new therapies and treatments to possibly be developed. This newly found integration site can be possibly manipulated, protected, or re-targeted. Researching the results of this study will be beneficial and I believe we can uncover more secrets of the HIV virus. It could lead to the reduction of the progression of HIV in a human being, or possibly even stop the disease from invading and reprogramming human cells in the first place.

Main Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141112132103.htm
Related Article: http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/hiv-protein-can-guide-viral-dna-to-opportune-host-dna-landing-site/81250595/

1 comment:

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