Comparative Modeling of Viral Protein R ( VpR ) from Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 ( HIV 1 )

During Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection interactions take place between host and the pathogen. This interaction mainly determines the efficiency of viral infection and the disease progression. Human Immunodeficiency Virus infected cells responds to several antiviral immune mechanisms such as innate, cellular and humoral immune antiviral defense. This virus has also gained resistance to suppress these host cellular responses. Out of many self resistance mechanisms, Viral protein R (VpR) occupies a significant role, such as nuclear transport of the viral pre-integration complex, activation of viral transcription, induction of cell cycle and apoptosis of the host cells. Apart from these specific roles, the function of VpR remains mystery for the structural bioinformatics. The comparative modeling approach is used to predict the structure of a VpR using NMR structure of the HIV-1 regulatory protein as the template (PDB ID: 1ESX: A). The theoretical structure of VpR is generated using Modeller9v1, a program for comparative modeling of protein using special restraints. This theoretical structure believes to paves the way for the novel lead synthesis.