尼帕病毒进入抑制剂研究进展

尼帕病毒(Nipah virus)属副粘病毒科亨尼帕病毒属,是在南亚各国出现的一种人畜共患病高致死率病毒。自1999年以来至少造成387人死亡,属生物安全4级病原(BSL-4),迄今为止尚无针对该病毒的疫苗或药物批准上市。近年来,以尼帕病毒进入宿主细胞为靶点的结合抑制剂和融合抑制剂是抗该病毒研究的重点,本文对此领域进行综述。     

艾滋病治疗药物-HIV抑制剂作用机制及研究进展

艾滋病（AIDS）是由人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）感染而引起的慢性进行性致死性传染病,又称获得性免疫缺陷综合症,目前无有效治愈的方法,严重危害着人类的健康。现今,艾滋病治疗药物主要包括逆转录酶抑制剂、蛋白酶抑制剂、进入抑制剂、整合酶抑制剂四大类化学药物和一些中草药制剂。抗HIV药物虽然不能完全治愈艾滋病,但可以控制艾滋病病情的发展,延长患者的无病生存期,提高患者的生活质量。本文就艾滋病发病机制、HIV抑制药物的抗病机制、副作用及其研究进展做一综述。     

艾滋病治疗药物--HIV 抑制剂作用机制及研究进展

艾滋病(AIDS)是由人类免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)感染而引起的慢性进行性致死性传染病,又称获得性免疫缺陷综合症,目前无有效治愈的方法,严重危害着人类的健康。现今,艾滋病治疗药物主要包括逆转录酶抑制剂、蛋白酶抑制剂、进入抑制剂、整合酶抑制剂四大类化学药物和一些中草药制剂。抗HIV药物虽然不能完全治愈艾滋病,但可以控制艾滋病病情的发展,延长患者的无病生存期,提高患者的生活质量。本文就艾滋病发病机制、HIV抑制药物的抗病机制、副作用及其研究进展做一综述。     

一类新型的抗病毒药物:病毒进入抑制剂

艾滋病是严重威胁人类健康的病毒性传染病.目前临床上抗人类免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)感染的药物主要是针对反转录酶和蛋白酶.反转录酶抑制剂和蛋白酶抑制剂的联合使用能显著降低HIV感染者的发病率和病死率,然而不良反应较大,价格昂贵,而且耐药的问题日益突出.近来一类新型抗HIV药物相继问世,其中T-20已经被美国食品药品管理局(FDA)批准正式在临床使用,此外几十种同类药物已经进入临床试验.     

植物源病毒抑制剂的研究进展

天然植物提取的活性物质对植物病毒有明显的抑制作用,已经成为当今植物病毒防治的重点。对植物源病毒抑制的活性物质及作用机理的研究现状进行了综述,并将外来入侵生物用以提取病毒抑制剂的相关生物技术提出了展望。     

HIV疫苗研究进展

自从1983年发现人类免疫缺陷病毒(Human immunodeficiency virus,HIV)以来,HIV一直以惊人的速度在全球蔓延,感染HIV的人数也日益增多。到目前为止,因患艾滋病死亡的人数已达到2500万,到2010年这一数字可能会突破8000万,因此研究预防和治疗艾滋病的药物也正日益迫切地摆在人们面     

HIV潜伏感染激活剂的研究进展

艾滋病是由人类免疫缺陷病毒(Human immunodeficiency virus,HIV)引起的人类最严重的单一病因疾病,以全身免疫系统严重损害为特征。高效抗逆转录病毒疗法(Highly active anti-retroviral therapy,HAART)的应用已经成功地将艾滋病从一种致死性疾病转变为慢性可控性疾病。但长期接受HAART治疗的艾滋病患者一旦停药,患者体内潜伏的HIV会迅速反弹。艾滋病无法彻底治愈的原因是患者体内HIV病毒潜伏储存库的存在。"Shock and kill"策略是使用HIV潜伏感染激活剂(Latency-reversing agents,LRAs)诱导潜伏HIV前病毒复制及表达,然后联合HAART将病毒一网打尽,同时由于细胞病变效应和/或HIV特征性免疫反应使潜伏细胞的半衰期大大缩短,最终达到功能性治愈的目的。因此,高效、安全且特异性促进潜伏库衰减的LRAs成为现今艾滋病治愈研究的热点。本文聚焦国内外前沿研究,对具有临床发展前景的HIV潜伏感染激活剂做一综述,为未来LRAs药物的研发指明方向。     

HIV疫苗研究进展

自从1983年发现人类免疫缺陷病毒(Human immunodeficiency virus,HIV)以来,HIV一直以惊人的速度在全球蔓延,感染HIV的人数也日益增多.到目前为止,因患艾滋病死亡的人数已达到2500万,到2010年这一数字可能会突破8000万,因此研究预防和治疗艾滋病的药物也正日益迫切地摆在人们面前.     

Isolation of a TRAIL antagonist from the serum of HIV-infected patients

Virus-host interactions are characterized by the selection of adaptive mechanisms by which to evade pathogenic and defense mechanisms, respectively. In primary T cells infected with HIV, HIV infection up-regulates TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) and death-inducing TRAIL receptors, but blockade of TRAIL:TRAIL receptor interaction does not alter HIV-induced cell death. Instead, HIV infection results in a novel splice variant that we call TRAIL-short (TRAIL-s), which antagonizes TRAIL-R2. In HIV patients, plasma TRAIL-s concentration increases with increasing viral load and renders cells resistant to TRAIL-induced death. Knockdown of TRAIL-s abrogates this resistance. We propose that TRAIL-s is a novel adaptive mechanism of apoptosis resistance acquired by HIV-infected cells to avoid their elimination by TRAIL-dependent effector mechanism.     

Impaired infectivity of ritonavir-resistant HIV is rescued by heat shock protein 90AB1

Certain ritonavir resistance mutations impair HIV infectivity through incomplete Gag processing by the mutant viral protease. Analysis of the mutant virus phenotype indicates that accumulation of capsid-spacer peptide 1 precursor protein in virus particles impairs HIV infectivity and that the protease mutant virus is arrested during the early postentry stage of HIV infection before proviral DNA synthesis. However, activation of the target cell can rescue this defect, implying that specific host factors expressed in activated cells can compensate for the defect in ritonavir-resistant HIV. This ability to rescue impaired HIV replication presented a unique opportunity to identify host factors involved in postentry HIV replication, and we designed a functional genetic screen so that expression of a given host factor extracted from activated T cells would lead directly to its discovery by rescuing mutant virus replication in nonactivated T cells. We identified the cellular heat shock protein 90 kDa α (cytosolic), class B member 1 (HSP90AB1) as a host factor that can rescue impaired replication of ritonavir-resistant HIV. Moreover, we show that pharmacologic inhibition of HSP90AB1 with 17-(allylamino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (tanespimycin) has potent in vitro anti-HIV activity and that ritonavir-resistant HIV is hypersensitive to the drug. These results suggest a possible role for HSP90AB1 in postentry HIV replication and may provide an attractive target for therapeutic intervention.     

Viral fusion proteins: multiple regions contribute to membrane fusion

In recent years, the simple picture of a viral fusion protein interacting with the cell and/or viral membranes by means of only two localized segments (i.e. the fusion peptide and the transmembrane domain) has given way to a more complex picture in which multiple regions from the viral proteins interact with membranes. Indeed, possible roles in membrane binding and/or destabilization have been postulated for the N-terminal heptad repeats, pre-transmembrane segments, and other internal regions of fusion proteins from distant viruses (such as orthomyxo-, retro-, paramyxo-, or flaviviruses). This review focuses on the experimental evidence and functional models postulated so far about the role of these regions in the process of virus-induced membrane fusion.     

Optimization of a 1,5-dihydrobenzo[b][1,4]diazepine-2,4-dione series of HIV capsid assembly inhibitors 2: Structure–activity relationships (SAR) of the C3-phenyl moiety

Detailed structure–activity relationships of the C3-phenyl moiety that allow for the optimization of antiviral potency of a series of 1,5-dihydrobenzo[b][1,4]diazepine-2,4-dione inhibitors of HIV capsid (CA) assembly are described. Combination of favorable substitutions gave additive SAR and allowed for the identification of the most potent compound in the series, analog 27. Productive SAR also transferred to the benzotriazepine and spirobenzodiazepine scaffolds, providing a solution to the labile stereocenter at the C3 position. The molecular basis of how compound 27 inhibits mature CA assembly is rationalized using high-resolution structural information. Our understanding of how compound 27 may inhibit immature Gag assembly is also discussed.     

Small Molecular Compounds Inhibit HIV-1 Replication through Specifically Stabilizing APOBEC3G

APOBEC3G (hA3G) is a host inhibitor for human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1). However, HIV-1 Vif binds hA3G and induces its degradation. We have established a screening system to discover inhibitors that protect hA3G from Vif-mediated degradation. Through screening, compounds IMB-26 and IMB-35 were identified to be specific inhibitors for the degradation of hA3G by Vif. The inhibitors suppressed HIV-1 replication in hA3G-containing cells but not in those without hA3G. The anti-HIV effect correlated with the endogenous hA3G level. HIV-1 particles from hA3G(+) cells treated with IMB-26/35 contained a hA3G level higher than that from those without IMB-26/35 treatment and showed decreased infectivity. IMB-26/35 bound directly to the hA3G protein, suppressed Vif/hA3G interaction, and therefore protected hA3G from Vif-mediated degradation. The compounds were safe with an anti-HIV therapeutic index >200 in vitro. LD₅₀ of IMB-26 in mice was >1000 mg/kg (intraperitoneally). Therefore, IMB-26 and IMB-35 are novel anti-HIV leads working through specific stabilization of hA3G.     

Viral infection in internally structured hosts. I. Conditions for persistent infection

For a virus population within its host, two important levels of structure can be considered: multiple cell types which can be infected, and tissue types or body compartments which may be coupled via movement. We develop a model with both types of structure. Migration between compartments can create "sources" and "sinks" within the virus population, where realized viral growth rate and abundance is lowered in some compartments compared to what would be observed in isolation. Using both analytical and numerical methods, we investigate how this within-host spatial structure affects the conditions for persistent viral infection. We find that migration between compartments makes the establishment of infection more difficult than it would be in the absence of migration, implying that within-host spatial structure combined with viral movement decreases the likelihood of viral establishment. If migration is symmetrical and compartments are heterogeneous, an increase in migration rates between compartments generally makes establishment less likely. This may help to explain the tissue specificity observed for many viruses. There are, however, important exceptions to this result. These include circumstances where the virus initially invades a compartment that is unfavorable to population growth and migration is necessary to infect other parts of the host body. Stochastic aspects of viral establishment may also favor increased migration as it tends to dampen the amplitude of fluctuations in population size during the initial transient phase of establishment.     

The hierarchy of chirality

Twisting is a prevalent feature of long, thin vertical leaves; it has been shown that this twist contributes to the mechanical integrity of the leaf. We address the question as to how this twist comes about, and posit that it is a reflection of twist at a lower structural (geometric) level. The stiffness required for maintaining verticality in leaves is due to turgescent parenchyma cells, sometimes thickened epidermis, cuticle, and is generally most significantly contributed to by vascular bundles and fibers. These contain cellulose in the cell walls. Such cellulose chains spiral upward within the cell wall layers which are of a characteristic handedness. This results in an isolated cell behaving mechanically in a chiral manner; specifically elongation (contraction) of a single cell will result in rotation of the cell about its axis of particular handedness. We propose a mathematical model that shows that when cells are mechanically associated in groups, the chiral behavior of the cell will be expressed at larger scales, albeit to a mitigated degree. Thus cell extension during leaf development may explain the characteristic twist of such leaves.