A research group led by Professor Akihide Liang and Assistant Professor Kei Miyagawa of Yokohama City University has elucidated the molecular mechanism by which the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, spreads efficiently in the body, and the host protein involved in this. I found.This achievement is a result of joint research with the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, National University of Singapore, Kitasato University, University of Michigan, USA, etc.The research results were published in the British scientific journal "Nature Communications" (online version).
One of the modes of HIV infection is "cell-to-cell (cell-to-cell) infection" in which infected cells and non-infected cells come into direct contact and deliver a large amount of virus (100 to 1000) at a time. ..This infection occurs through a special structure called Virological Synapse (VS) that is present at the junction between cells. For efficient transmission of HIV, it is known to transport the basic components of the virus (such as the HIV skeletal protein "Gag" and the viral genome "vRNA") to VS, but the mechanism is unknown. rice field.
Since the research group has considered that the transport of Gag and vRNA is mediated by some common host proteins, the research group searched for a host factor that binds to Gag.As a result, we succeeded in identifying the APC (adenomatous polyposis coli) protein, which is a tumor suppressor gene product.Furthermore, as a result of investigating the role of APC, it was suggested that APC is a host protein that accumulates and stabilizes virus constituents Gag and vRNA in VS to control cell-to-cell infection of HIV.
If the interaction with Gag can be blocked without inhibiting the cancer-suppressing function of APC, it may be possible to prevent efficient cell-to-cell infection of HIV.In the future, by searching for peptides and compounds that mimic the Gag binding region of APC, as well as compounds that suppress the interaction between APC and Gag, we will develop a new type of therapeutic drug that suppresses the virus-host interaction. I want to let you.
