An interdisciplinary team of scientists from KU Leuven in Belgium has developed a new technique to examine how proteins interact with each other at the level of a single HIV viral particle. The technique allows scientists to study the life-threatening virus in detail and makes screening potential anti-HIV drugs quicker and more efficient. The technique can also be used to study other diseases. “Essentially, we have created a nano test tube out of an HIV virion, inside of which protein interactions can be studied,” says co-author Jelle Hendrix. Photo: Shutterstock Understanding how the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reproduces itself is crucial in the effort to fight the disease. Upon entering the bloodstream, HIV viral particles, or virions, ‘highjack’ individual immune cells. The virion binds to and then penetrates the immune cell. Once inside, the virion reprograms the genetic material of the immune cell to produce more HIV virions. In this way, HIV disables the disease-fighting ‘bodyguards’ in our blood and turns them into breeding machines for new HIV virions. Integrase plays a key role throughout this whole process: “Integrase is the HIV protein that causes the genetic material of HIV to link to that of the hijacked cell. It ensures
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