Inhibitors and Probes of HIV-1 Cell Fusion

我们“HIV-1细胞融合的抑制剂和探针”项目的长期目标和目标是识别和设计蛋白质和小分子疗法、探针和疫苗免疫原，这些免疫原可以翻译为艾滋病毒/艾滋病的治疗和长效抑制。子项目包括设计和开发具有抑制和免疫原双重功能的新的gp41衍生多肽和蛋白质，发现和高分辨率结构表征新的碳水化合物结合蛋白，通过碳水化合物介导的与HIV gp120/gp41的相互作用有效地抑制HIV-1进入，发现HIV-1进入细胞的天然产物抑制剂，以及HIV-1包膜-辅受体相互作用的结构和机制研究。虽然在开发艾滋病毒感染者的治疗方法和延长他们的预期寿命方面取得了很大进展，但我们还没有治愈这种疾病的方法，仍然存在许多挑战，包括抗药性的发展、治疗的成本和可获得性以及所有人都可以获得的预防战略。我们的研究计划旨在通过增加对病毒进入过程的了解和开发强调生物分子和抗体融合的新型治疗方法来克服其中的一些挑战。

The long term goals and objectives of our project "Inhibitors and Probes of HIV-1 Cell Fusion" are to identify and engineer protein and small molecule therapeutics, probes and vaccine immunogens that can be translated for the treatment and long acting inhibition of HIV/AIDS. Subprojects include design and development of new gp41-derived peptides and proteins that have dual functions as inhibitors and immunogens, discovery and high resolution structural characterization of new carbohydrate binding proteins that potently inhibit HIV-1 Entry through carbohydrate-mediated interactions with HIV gp120/gp41, discovery of natural product inhibitors of HIV-1 cell entry, and structural and mechanistic studies of HIV-1 Envelope-coreceptor interactions. Though great progress has been achieved in developing treatments for and extending the life expectancies of HIV infected individuals, we do not have a cure for this disease and many challenges remain including the development of drug resistance, the cost and availability of treatments, and prevention strategies that are available to all. Our research program aims to overcome some of these challenges through increased understanding of the viral entry process and development of novel classes of therapies with an emphasis on biomolecules and antibody fusions.