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HIV

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Nature volume 505, pages 167–168 (2014)Cite this article

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Two crystal structures reveal that the Vif and Vpx proteins of human and simian immunodeficiency viruses mediate evasion of host defences by reprogramming the cellular protein-degradation machinery. See Letters p.229 & p.234

The human immune system uses myriad adaptive and innate mechanisms to fight HIV infection and AIDS. Prominent among these is a collection of widely expressed cellular proteins called restriction factors, which can potently suppress viral replication1. But human and simian immunodeficiency viruses, including HIV-1, encode several dedicated regulatory proteins that enable them to evade restriction factors, thus ensuring their survival and propagation. Two papers2,3 in this issue show how the viral Vif and Vpx regulatory proteins bind to key host-cell partners and targets, culminating in the removal of restriction factors from infected cells.

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Figure 1: Destruction of host-cell antiviral proteins.

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  1. Michael H. Malim is in the Department of Infectious Diseases, King's College London, London SE1 9RT, UK.,

    Michael H. Malim

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  1. Michael H. Malim
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Correspondence to Michael H. Malim.

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Malim, M. Ringside views. Nature 505, 167–168 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/505167a

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