Scientists capture the first key high-resolution image of HIV protein transition state

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a kind of lentivirus that infects the cells of human immune system It is a kind of retrovirus In 1983, human immunodeficiency virus was first found in the United States The virus destroys the immune capacity of the human body, leading to the loss of immune system resistance, leading to AIDS Scientists at Scripps Institute have brought in a new study that says they have captured new three-dimensional images of HIV, which clearly show the structural transformation of key proteins that enable the virus to recognize and infect host cells This three-dimensional image shows different parts of the key HIV protein complex, which has long been missing in AIDS research The scientists also see clearly in the images the nature of the protein and its changing state before infecting human cells The results, published in the recent journal Nature, show this image The researchers said that this discovery provides a new potential for the development and research of AIDS vaccine "By understanding the intermediate state of this protein complex, we can infer the transitions between trimer States, how mutations occur, and how molecules can be used to prevent these transitions HIV / AIDS is rampant in the human body due to human immunodeficiency At present, about 37 million people are infected in the world The limitation of vaccine development lies in the complex and elusive structure of HIV The protein complex of HIV consists of three mushroom like structures If we can find three structural changes, we may find loopholes and develop new fusion inhibitor drugs During the experiment, the researchers observed different images by constantly switching the state of the protein complex The researchers said: "this discovery has brought a new breakthrough for us to further develop the vaccine successfully."