Title

Vif and Apobec3G in the innate immune response to HIV: a tale of two proteins

UMMS Affiliation

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; College of the Holy Cross

Publication Date

2008-03-28

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

It is now 26 years after the first published report on HIV, and the global epidemic continues unabated, with estimates of over 33 million people currently infected, worldwide. Development of targeted therapies aimed at perturbing the HIV life cycle can be achieved only with a detailed comprehension of the dynamics of virus-host interactions within the cell. One such critical virus-host interaction is the recently elucidated interplay between the viral Vif protein and the innate immune defense molecule Apobec3G. Apobec3G potently suppresses HIV replication, but Vif can alleviate this inhibition, rescuing viral infectivity. Early work describing the characterization of Vif and the cloning and identification of Apobec3G as an antiviral are discussed. Recent advances detailing the mechanisms of the Vif-Apobec3G regulatory circuit and our nascent understanding of Apobec3G endogenous function are also presented. Collectively, these studies have shed light on potential novel therapeutic strategies aimed at exploiting Apobec3G antiviral function to abrogate HIV replication.

DOI of Published Version

10.2217/17460913.3.2.145

Source

Future Microbiol. 2008 Apr;3:145-54. Link to article on publisher's site

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Future microbiology

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

PubMed ID

18366335

Link to Full Text

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