Mutations, designed by analysis of the crystal structures of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease (PR), were introduced into the substrate binding pocket of RSV PR. The mutations substituted nonconserved residues of RSV PR, located within 10 A of the substrate, for those in structurally equivalent positions of HIV-1 PR. Changes in the activity of pur...

BACKGROUND The progress of antiretroviral treatment roll-out programs in developing countries requires extensive monitoring of primary drug resistance prior to initiation of therapy. This is particularly relevant for Cameroon where a high HIV diversity has been reported. OBJECTIVES To determine HIV diversity in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in a cohort of HIV-infected subjects with advanced disease. To ...

The HIV-1 and HTLV-I are retroviral proteases which share 31% sequence identity and high structural similarities. Yet, their substrate specificities and inhibition profiles are differing from each other and due to these reasons; most of the HIV-PR inhibitors fail to interact with HTLV-PR. Here we examined the approved drugs of HIV-PR inhibitors towards both retroviral protease and examined the ...

Diphtheria toxin enters the cytosol of mammalian cells where it inhibits cellular protein synthesis, leading to cell death. Recently we found that the addition of a signal for N-end-rule-mediated protein degradation to diphtheria toxin substantially reduced its intracellular stability and toxicity. These results prompted us to construct a toxin containing a degradation signal that is removable ...

Nelfinavir (NFV) is a currently available HIV-1 protease (PR) inhibitor. Patients in whom NFV treatment has failed predominantly carry D30N mutants of HIV-1 PRs if they have been infected with the subtype B virus. In contrast, N88S mutants of HIV-1 PRs predominantly emerge in patients in whom NFV treatment has failed and who carry the CRF01_AE virus. Both D30N and N88S confer resistance against...

The protein hydrolysis mechanism by the HIV-1 protease (HIV-1 PR) was studied using ab initio molecular orbital calculations with a model compound. The initial model compound was constructed based on the result of a 100 ps molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of the enzyme-substrate (ES) complex under physiologic conditions. This study suggests that the hydrolysis mechanism of the Phe-Pro peptide...

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease (HIV-1 PR) is an essential enzyme for the replication cycle of HIV. HIV-1 PR inhibitors have been extensively investigated as anti-AIDS drugs. In the presence of HIV-1 protease inhibitors, the virion is unable to mature. Natural compounds are important sources of drugs. The present investigation concentrates on discovering anti-HIV compounds that are...

Mature enzymes encoded within the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genome (protease (PR), reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase (IN)) derive from proteolytic processing of a large polyprotein (Gag-Pol). Gag-Pol processing is catalyzed by the viral PR, which is active as a homodimer. The HIV-1 RT functions as a heterodimer (p66/p51) composed of subunits of 560 and 440 amino acid re...

Recently, western countries have recorded a decrease in the death rate imputed to AIDS. This success has been largely attributed to the presence on the market of chemotherapies that inhibit the infectivity of the predominant causative agent, the HIV-1 virus, by targeting essential viral enzymes. One of these is the protease (HIV-1 PR) whose activity is a prerequisite for viral replication. Two ...

Antiretroviral treatment (ART) use in India requires information on baseline drug resistance mutations and polymorphisms in the protease (Pr) and reverse transcriptase (RT) genes of HIV-1 strains from treatment-naïve individuals. We report resistance predictor mutations and polymorphisms in the Pr and the RT sequence of non-clade B HIV-1 strains from ART naïve individuals. The genotypic resista...