Mbio: molecular mechanism of natural immune protein inhibiting HIV replication

February 12, 2020 / Biovalley BIOON / -- according to a new study published in the Journal mbio by researchers from George Washington University, human apolipoprotein A-1 binding protein (AIBP) inhibits HIV replication by targeting lipid rafts and reducing viral cell fusion These results provide the first evidence that AIBP is a innate immune factor that can limit HIV replication by modifying lipid rafts on HIV target cells "Previous studies have shown that AIBP has protective and potential therapeutic effects in human diseases related to inflammation and impaired cholesterol metabolism, especially atherosclerosis," said Michael bukrinsky, Professor of Microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine, the author of the paper "We found that AIBP also has anti HIV activity in our study." (image source: www Pixabay Com) the host cell lipid rafts (domains with high concentration of cholesterol and glycosphingolipids in the cell membrane) are essential for HIV invasion and participate in HIV-1 assembly and target cell infection Considering the dependence of HIV on lipid rafts and the ability of AIBP to reduce lipid rafts, the researchers hypothesized that AIBP could inhibit HIV replication The results show that exogenous AIBP can reduce the abundance of lipid rafts and inhibit HIV replication in vitro and in vivo, while knockout of the inherent AIBP can increase HIV replication Using these findings, the authors suggest that new treatments for HIV infection and HIV related complications can be envisaged by stimulating the production of AIBP "Through this study, we identified a novel innate immune factor that targets lipid rafts to inhibit HIV infection." "Further research may show that AIBP can also prevent other viruses and microorganisms from infecting." Source of information: study finds in native protein that restrictions HIV replication by targeting lipid rafts source: Larisa dubrovsky et al, initiation of HIV replication by apolipoprotein A-I binding protein targeting the rapid rafts, mbio (2020) Doi: 10.1128/mbio.02956-19