UCLA scientists, along with collaborators from Purdue University, have demonstrated that HIV protease inhibitors ?crucial drugs for HIV treatment ?block a cellular enzyme important for generating the structural scaffolding for the cell nucleus.Published in the July 16 early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, these biochemical findings may offer insights into the side effects of HIV protease inhibitors, including metabolic syndrome and regional losses of some of the body? fat tissue. These side effects occur in up to one-third of patients taking anti-HIV drug regimens.
