Entry, revisited

How can an individual reenter a society of which he has never truly been a member? What does the PRI miss in assuming that the individual offender is the only potentially successful site for intervention? Drawing on his personal experience as an educator in prisons, public schools, and the PRI, the author argues that education in the PRI can best be understood in relation to educational segregation in society as a whole. As such, any successful approach to reentry must begin with a consideration of entry, and a renewed commitment by established institutions of the dominant culture to address racial segregation and the segregation of former prisoners alike.     

Entry Properties and Entry Inhibitors of a Human H7N9 Influenza Virus

The recently identified human infections with a novel avian influenza H7N9 virus in China raise important questions regarding possible risk to humans. However, the entry properties and tropism of this H7N9 virus were poorly understood. Moreover, neuraminidase inhibitor resistant H7N9 isolates were recently observed in two patients and correlated with poor clinical outcomes. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the entry properties of H7N9 virus, design and evaluate inhibitors for H7N9 virus entry. We optimized and developed an H7N9-pseudotyped particle system (H7N9pp) that could be neutralized by anti-H7 antibodies and closely mimicked the entry process of the H7N9 virus. Avian, human and mouse-derived cultured cells showed high, moderate and low permissiveness to H7N9pp, respectively. Based on influenza virus membrane fusion mechanisms, a potent anti-H7N9 peptide (P155-185-chol) corresponding to the C-terminal ectodomain of the H7N9 hemagglutinin protein was successfully identified. P155-185-chol demonstrated H7N9pp-specific inhibition of infection with IC₅₀ of 0.19 µM. Importantly, P155-185-chol showed significant suppression of A/Anhui/1/2013 H7N9 live virus propagation in MDCK cells and additive effects with NA inhibitors Oseltamivir and Zanamivir. These findings expand our knowledge of the entry properties of the novel H7N9 viruses, and they highlight the potential for developing a new class of inhibitors targeting viral entry for use in the next pandemic.     

HIV Entry and Envelope Glycoprotein-mediated Fusion

HIV entry involves binding of the trimeric viral envelope glycoprotein (Env) gp120/gp41 to cell surface receptors, which triggers conformational changes in Env that drive the membrane fusion reaction. The conformational landscape that the lipids and Env navigate en route to fusion has been examined by biophysical measurements on the microscale, whereas electron tomography, x-rays, and NMR have provided insights into the process on the nanoscale and atomic scale. However, the coupling between the lipid and protein pathways that give rise to fusion has not been resolved. Here, we discuss the known and unknown about the overall HIV Env-mediated fusion process.     

RANTES衍生物与HIV-1进入抑制剂

HIV-1-1进入抑制剂的研究是近年来艾滋病药物研发领域的新热点,其中最受关注的是以CCR5为靶点的新药研发。CCR5是病毒进入细胞的主要辅助受体,在HIV-1进入宿主细胞过程中起着非常重要的作用。作为CCR5的天然配体,CC类的趋化因子RANTES、MIP-1α和MIP-1β都是极具潜力的HIV-1抑制剂,特别是有关对RANTES的定向设计的研究尤为引人关注,其目的是设计出一种既有很强的抗病毒能力而又不引发炎症反应的HIV-1拮抗剂。就RANTES衍生物应用于抑制HIV进入细胞方面的研究进行了综述。     

病毒入胞机制研究方法及其研究进展

多数病毒家族利用胞吞作为入侵宿主细胞的途径。胞吞既可以介导病毒内化,也可以将病毒运输到复制位点。已知的胞吞途径包括:网格蛋白依赖型内吞、小窝蛋白依赖型内吞、巨胞饮和网格蛋白、小窝蛋白非依赖型内吞。随着对胞吞过程中各组分结构和功能了解的日趋深入,研究胞吞过程以及病毒入侵过程的手段也变得更有效,特异性更高。目前,化学抑制剂的使用仍十分普遍,但该方法常非特异性地阻断细胞某些功能。一些分子抑制方法,如过表达显性负突变体和siRNA技术等,因其对单一途径的特异性阻断,使得应用分子型抑制剂逐渐取代了化学抑制剂。本文主要分析了研究病毒入侵途径时所使用的实验方法,并列举了一些实例。     

HIV进入抑制剂的研究进展

随着对HIV进入细胞过程的了解,各种进入抑制剂相继问世,目前主要有三大类:吸附抑制剂、辅助受体抑制剂和融合抑制剂.对其中具有代表性的进入抑制剂研究进展进行了介绍,一些进入抑制剂已经进入到了临床试验阶段,其中融合抑制剂T20在2003年便被FDA批准可同其他ARTs联合用于治疗HIV感染者,CCR5拮抗剂Maraviro...