Regulation of translation of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 RNA by the viral Gag protein

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We are studying part of the life cycle of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to understand how the virus makes the proteins for new infectious particles. This is important as it may help to uncover new targets for anti-HIV therapy.More than forty million people worldwide are infected with HIV, and 3 million people die of AIDS-related illnesses every year. Despite the development of drugs which can delay the onset of AIDS, resistance to the current drugs is common, and there is no cure. New therapies are needed, requiring more knowledge about the HIV life cycle.One area of the life cycle that we are interested in is how the virus makes its proteins. HIV uses the cell’s machinery to do this, but it is not known how the virus is able to compete with normal cell protein production. The purpose of this research project is to investigate how HIV interacts with the cell’s machinery to promote viral protein production, and to see what happens to the virus when we disrupt this interaction. We hope that the results of this research may suggest a new area of the HIV life cycle to target with drug therapy.