New microbial reducing agent helps prevent HIV virus

Researchers from the University of Utah in the United States have discovered a new compound that sticks across the surface of the virus coated with carbohydrates (sugar) produced by the body and restricts it from the cell infection.

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This is considered an important breakthrough, moving closer to a new effective treatment that helps prevent sexually transmitted infections.

Laboratory development and testing of potential new microbicides for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus infection have been presented in a study published online in Molecular Pharmaceutics issue. September 26.

Despite years of research, there is only one effective microbicide to prevent the spread of HIV, the cause of AIDS, or sexual immunodeficiency syndrome. The process of microbicide reduction has focused on gels, as well as other treatments that can kill vaginal bacteria, reduce HIV infection, especially in Africa and other developing countries. .

To establish infection, HIV will first have to invade the cells of a host organism and then control the cell's replicating machinery to make copies of itself. HIV copies in turn infect other cells. The two steps of the life cycle of HIV, called viral entry and replication, each provide a potential target for drugs against AIDS.

"Most anti-HIV drugs in clinical trials target mechanisms related to viral replication," the study's lead author, Patrick F. Kiser, Professor of Biotechnology. and pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Utah.

"There is a cost and effective gap in HIV treatments with mass production, helping to inhibit the activity of viruses before it has the opportunity to interact with other target cells" , he insisted.

Patrick F. Kiser. (Source: sciencedaily.com)

Kiser conducted research with Alamelu Mahalingham, a University of Utah medical and pharmaceutical chemistry professor and Anthony Geonnotti from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC; and Jan Balzarini from the Leuven Catholic University in Belgium.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and the Scientific Research Foundation, Belgium.

Lectin is a group of molecules found in nature that can interact and bind to specific sugars. HIV covered with sugar molecules can help hide from the immune system. Previous studies have shown that lectins are derived from plants and bacteria that inhibit the entry of HIV into cells by binding to the sugars found on the virus coating surface.

However, the cost of producing and refining lectin is naturally too high. Therefore, Kiser and his colleagues developed and evaluated the anti-HIV activity of synthetic lectins on the basis of a compound called benzoboroxole , or BzB , attached to the sugar in the HIV envelope.

Kiser and his colleagues discovered that these BzB lectins are capable of binding to the residue of HIV, but the linkage is too weak to use. To improve adhesion, scientists have developed polymers of synthetic lectins. Polymers are larger molecules created from repetitive subunits, which contain many BzB bonds. The researchers found that increasing the number and density of BzB links on synthetic lectins produced substances that were better able to bind to the AIDS virus and thus increased resistance. virus.

"The polymers that we have made are very active against HIV that can dissolve the weight of a cubic sugar of benzoboroxole polymers, enough to prevent HIV infection in cells , " Kiser said.

Depending on stress, HIV displays significant changes in viral envelopes, so it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of any new potential treatment against many different HIV strains.

The scientists also tested the anti-HIV function of synthetic lectin in the presence of fructose, the sugar present in the liquid portion of semen, which could potentially affect drug activity. However, the researchers found that the antiviral activity of synthetic lectins still worked well and effectively despite the presence of fructose.

"The characteristics of an ideal anti-HIV microbicide include potential, broad-spectrum antibiotics, selective inhibition, fertility and biocompatibility, " Kiser explains. "The above mentioned synthetic lectin benzoboroxole seems to meet all the above criteria, expanding the potential to prevent HIV transmission."

Kiser said future research will focus on evaluating the ability of synthetic lectins to prevent HIV infection in tissues taken from the human body, then tested in primates. Kiser and his colleagues are also developing a form of polymer gel, which can be used as a topical treatment to prevent sexually transmitted HIV infection.