Balzarini Jan
Rega Institute for Medical Research, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Curr Opin HIV AIDS. 2006 Sep;1(5):355-60. doi: 10.1097/01.COH.0000239846.36076.2c.
Given the continuing expansion of the HIV pandemic, more emphasis on new methods of treatment and prevention of the HIV infection is urgently needed.
Several carbohydrate-binding agents, basically monomeric, dimeric or tetrameric proteins (lectins), are endowed with a pronounced anti-HIV activity in cell culture. They inhibit the viral entry (fusion) process and can block HIV infections by cell-free virions, as well as virus cell-cell transmission. Prolonged exposure to carbohydrate-binding agents slowly and progressively selects for deletions of glycans at N-glycosylation sites in HIV gp120. Such mutant virus strains retain full sensitivity to other anti-HIV drugs. Moreover, virus strains that contain deleted glycans in their gp120 envelope may trigger the immune system to produce neutralizing antibodies against the uncovered immunogenic epitopes on HIV gp120, contributing further to the elimination of the mutant virus particles from the bloodstream. Efficient expression of carbohydrate-binding agents by commensal bacteria has been achieved and may be an interesting novel approach to protect the vaginal mucosa against HIV infection/transmission.
Carbohydrate-binding proteins are a unique group of natural products that may qualify as efficient microbicides and as a potential tool to prevent mother-to-infant virus transmission.
鉴于艾滋病毒大流行的持续蔓延，迫切需要更加重视艾滋病毒感染的新治疗和预防方法。
几种碳水化合物结合剂，基本上是单体、二聚体或四聚体蛋白（凝集素），在细胞培养中具有显著的抗艾滋病毒活性。它们抑制病毒进入（融合）过程，可阻断无细胞病毒体的艾滋病毒感染以及病毒的细胞间传播。长时间接触碳水化合物结合剂会缓慢且逐渐地导致艾滋病毒gp120中N - 糖基化位点的聚糖缺失。此类突变病毒株对其他抗艾滋病毒药物仍保持完全敏感性。此外，其gp120包膜中含有缺失聚糖的病毒株可能会触发免疫系统产生针对艾滋病毒gp120上未被覆盖的免疫原性表位的中和抗体，进一步有助于从血液中清除突变病毒颗粒。共生细菌已实现碳水化合物结合剂的高效表达，这可能是保护阴道黏膜免受艾滋病毒感染/传播的一种有趣的新方法。
碳水化合物结合蛋白是一类独特的天然产物，可能成为有效的杀菌剂以及预防母婴病毒传播的潜在工具。
