Scientists Discover Potent Protein that Prevents HIV Infection

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In a promising advance in the war against AIDS, scientists have designed a potent, new protein that can prevent HIV infection by blocking its entry into human cells. The protein, called 5-Helix and designed to bind to a region in the HIV coat protein gp41, is able to prevent a wide range of HIV strains from fusing to the cell membrane and thereby infecting it.

The researchers say that the 5-Helix protein could therefore serve as the basis for a new class of broad spectrum, injectible drugs against HIV, one that could be used as an alternative when current drugs fail, i.e., as a salvage therapy. Drugs based on 5-Helix would need to be injected, but could be self-administered much the same way as injectible drugs such as insulin or erythropoeitin are.

The 5-Helix protein could also serve as a basis for prophylactics that could be injected immediately after inadvertent needle pricks in hospital settings to prevent HIV from infecting cells.

These results, from Peter S. Kim and colleagues at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and published in the January 11 issue of ScienceExpress (an electronic publication of Science magazine highlighting papers from future issues), hold great promise for clinical applications.

Unlike currently used drugs that target HIV at other points during its life cycle—after it has already infected the cell—drugs based on 5-Helix could work by preventing HIV fusion with cell membranes. Such "entry inhibitors" represent a promising and alternative line of attack against HIV. In fact, one entry inhibitor, called T-20, has shown promise in Phase II clinical trials when injected into patients, but it has to be injected in large quantities.

The 5-Helix protein is a potent, broad-spectrum inhibitor of HIV infection that targets a different part of the HIV coat protein than T-20. The researchers are particularly excited by the results they see in the 5-Helix protein. "We may only be a few steps away from seeing whether 5-Helix works in monkeys," says Kim.

This report is the culmination of decades long research into the structure of the HIV coat protein, called gp41. Two years ago, Dr. Kim’s lab at the Whitehead Institute used X-ray crystallography to decipher the architecture of gp41. This protein plays a key role in allowing the virus membrane to fuse with the membrane of the cell it is attacking. Scientists have long targeted gp41, hoping that a drug aimed at this protein could nip HIV infection in the bud by blocking the virus’ ability to enter cells.

In its inactive form, gp41 lies just beneath the surface of the virus coat, but as HIV prepares to enter a cell, gp41 undergoes a remarkable change. A dormant protein region called the "fusion peptide" is propelled, harpoon-like, toward the host cell membrane, hooking the target for infection. For a fleeting moment, the exposed gp41 is an Achilles’ heel for the virus—vulnerable to counterattack by drugs.

The Kim lab designed 5-Helix to bind specifically and tightly to a portion of gp41. Even at nanomolar concentrations, the 5-Helix was able to prevent HIV from entering cells. 5-Helix also has other qualities that make an attractive drug candidate. It is very stable, so it is less likely to be degraded by the body’s enzymes; can be made larger to avoid elimination by the kidneys; and modified such that it can escape the body’s immune response.

The 5-Helix strategy may have broader application to a wide range of human viruses. Like HIV, many different viruses, including Ebola, HRSV (human respiratory syncytial virus, a leading cause of infant mortality in developed countries), and the flu virus, use a similar fusion membrane strategy to enter cells. The 5-Helix protein can be used as a model to design similar inhibitors against HRSV, for instance.

The 5-Helix results also suggest a new strategy for generating antibodies against HIV, which may be useful in vaccine development.