A Reversal of Fortune in HIV-1 Integration

摘要

Aretrovirus like HIV-1 must insert itself into the genome of an infected host cell to accomplish two things. Once integrated, viral DNA (known as the provirus) can be expressed and, importantly, the viral genome can be replicated and inherited upon host cell division. Consequently, the virus becomes inextricably linked to the host, making it virtually impossible to "cure" AIDS patients of their HIV-1 infection. On page 1912 of this issue, Sarkar et al. (1) construct an enzyme (recombinase) that can effectively excise integrated HIV-1 DNA from cultured, infected human cells. The results raise the possibility that customizedrnenzymes might someday help to eradicate HIV-1 from the body.