Studying an enzyme called Integrase may allow the medical community to create more efficient medicines to combat HIV/AIDS. Scientists from Harvard University, teamed up with researchers from the Imperial College London, have been successful in their attempts to study Integrase by growing a retrovirus crystal.
What is Integrase?
Integrase is the enzyme that allows retroviruses like the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) place copies of genes from the virus into the host's DNA.
HIV/AIDS treatments and Integrase
Current HIV/AIDS treatments often include the use of Integrase inhibitors, which can slow the spread of the virus, and may be effective when the virus becomes resistant to other medications. Until now, however, scientists were unable to study exactly how Integrase works, which limited their ability to develop efficient HIV/AIDS treatments focusing on the enzyme. See the study published January 31, 2010, in Nature: Retroviral intasome assembly and inhibition of DNA strand transfer.
Studying retrovirus enzymes
By growing the enzyme in a 3 dimensional crystal form, the scientists can study it more thoroughly. Understanding Integrase should allow researchers to create better ways to prevent the use of the enzyme by the AIDS virus.
Resources:
New England Journal of Medicine- HIV Integrase Inhibitors
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News - Scientists Solve 3-D Crystal Structure of Retroviral Integrase Bound to Viral DNA
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