LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers at the Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School in the United States have determined the three-dimensional conformation of HIV’s envelope protein gp120, before it binds to CD4 receptors on target cells.
The structure of the protein after it binds to the receptor has already been deciphered. “Knowing how gp120 changes shape is a new route to inhibiting HIV -- by using compounds that inhibit the shape change,” Dr. Stephen Harrison, head of the research team, said.
Peter Kwong, of the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, described the research using X-ray crystallography as a “technical tour de force,” because scientists have sought the structure of unliganded gp120 for almost 20 years.
“In terms of vaccine design, the structure ... reveals the envelope at its potentially most vulnerable,” he said in a commentary in Nature.
“The findings also will help us understand why it’s so hard to make an HIV vaccine, and will help us start strategizing about new approaches to vaccine development,” Dr. Harrison explained in a statement.
“We can now compare the bound and unbound forms and try to understand whether there are any immunologic properties that differ and that might provide a route to new vaccine or drug strategies,” said Dr. Harrison.
Source: Nature 2005;433:834-841. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Antigens, Viral: Biochemical Phenomena: Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition: Chemistry: Chemistry, Analytical: Chemistry, Physical: Crystallography: Investigative Techniques: Physical Sciences: Retroviridae Proteins: Viral Envelope Proteins: Viral Proteins: X-Ray Diffraction: Molecular Structure: HIV Antigens: Viral Structural Proteins: Gene Products, env: HIV Envelope Protein gp120: Crystallography, X-Ray: Polyproteins: Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment: Biological Sciences: Physical SciencesCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
