最新一项研究发现，丙肝蛋白中的一个片段可以在细胞培养中防止HIV感染，预示着一种新的对抗HIV病毒武器的出现。Philippe Gallay所在的研究小组发现，C5A肽可以打乱HIV粒子并摧毁他们的传染性。这种肽是丙肝病毒锚蛋白的一部分，之前的研究发现它对丙肝病毒有杀灭作用。在这项研究中，C5A可以摧毁会传染的HIV粒子，从而阻止HIV进入其首要的目标细胞——CD4+T细胞、巨噬细胞和树状细胞——同时不破坏这些细胞的细胞膜。
研究人员强调，这一抗病毒机制不同于其它那些基于蛋白质的、阻止HIV接受体互动的抗HIV药物。这种肽还可以防止HIV病毒在形成生殖器膜的细胞间转移，并阻止病毒到达膜下的细胞目标。研究人员相信，如果进一步的研究表明这种肽对人体同样安全，那么C5A就可能可以作为一种预防HIV的抗微生物剂，拥有治疗价值。
相关论文3月31日在线发表于美国《国家科学院院刊》（PNAS）上。（来源：EurekAlert!中文版）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
（PNAS）， doi：10.1073/pnas.0801388105，Michael D. Bobardt，Philippe A. Gallay
Hepatitis C virus NS5A anchor peptide disrupts human immunodeficiency virus
Michael D. Bobardt*, Guofeng Cheng, Lot de Witte, Suganya Selvarajah*, Udayan Chatterji*, Brigitte E. Sanders-Beer, Teunis B. H. Geijtenbeek, Francis V. Chisari,¶, and Philippe A. Gallay*,¶
Departments of *Immunology and Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037; Department of Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology, VU University Medical Center, van de Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and BIOQUAL, Inc., 9600 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850
Contributed by Francis V. Chisari, February 12, 2008 (sent for review December 7, 2007)
Abstract
In the absence of an effective vaccine, there is an urgent need for safe and effective antiviral agents to prevent transmission of HIV. Here, we report that an amphipathic -helical peptide derived from the hepatitis C virus NS5A anchor domain (designated C5A in this article) that has been shown to be virocidal for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) also has potent antiviral activity against HIV. C5A exhibits a broad range of antiviral activity against HIV isolates, and it prevents infection of the three in vivo targets of HIV: CD4+ T lymphocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells by disrupting the integrity of the viral membrane and capsid core while preserving the integrity of host membranes. C5A can interrupt an ongoing T cell infection, and it can prevent transmigration of HIV through primary genital epithelial cells, infection of mucosal target cells and transfer from dendritic cells to T cells ex vivo, justifying future experiments to determine whether C5A can prevent HIV transmission in vivo.
