A "Fossil" Virus Involved In AIDS Drug R...( to mutations say thescientists. Mayb...)

to mutations, say the scientists. Maybe the HERV-K protease, made within a patient's own body, is taking over for some of the HIV-1 protease when it is inactivated. "We tried to determine whether any of the inhibitors that are approved or are in clinical trials can inhibit the HERV-K protease," adds Gulnik, "and we found that it is highly resistant to most of these inhibitors."

In the Biochemistry report, the scientists also say laboratory experiments show that HERV-K protease cuts at a proper site within an HIV-1 polyprotein. But they add that follow-up studies will be needed to determine whether the HERV-K protease actually lends a helping hand to HIV-1 in AIDS patients. If so, future AIDS treatments may need to be developed for yet another target. "It's a radical theory," says Towler. "The hypothesis is a little bit on the fringe, but we have had some surprising results that support it."

This research is part of an ongoing effort to establish the underlying basis of drug resistance mechanisms for HIV-1 led by Dr. John W. Erickson, Director of the SAIC/NCI Structural Biochemistry Program, and was a collaborative effort that included scientists at the Institute Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Universitatskliniken des Saarlandes, Homburg, Germany.

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Contact: Randy Atkins
r_atkins@acs.org
202-872-4097
American Chemical Society
4-Dec-1998

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