HIV Integration requires use of a Host DNA-Repair pathway

ScienceDaily (Mar. 24, 2011): — The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS, makes use of the base excision repair pathway when inserting its DNA into the host-cell genome, according to a new study led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

Crippling the repair pathway prevents the virus from completing this critical step in the retrovirus's life cycle.

The findings offer potential new targets for novel anti-HIV drugs that may not lead as quickly to viral resistance as current drugs, the researchers say.


"HIV continues to develop resistance to current therapies," says first author Kristine Yoder, assistant professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics.

"But the proteins we talk about in this paper are made by the cell, so drugs that target them might not lead to resistance as quickly as drugs that target viral proteins. And while targeting host proteins does have the potential for side effects, studies of mice suggest that targeting some of these genes may not lead to significant side effects." Read more>>