HIV-1 Vif protein is one of the most crucial accessory proteins for viral replication. It efficiently counteracts the important host restriction factor APOBEC3G (apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like 3G, A3G) which is lethal to HIV-1 by causing G to A mutation of viral genome. Vif protein mediates degradation of APOBEC3G via the complicated protein-protein interactions of Vif, APOBEC3G, Elongin C/B and Cullin 5. The importance of Vif-APOBEC3G complex makes it a good potential target to develop new therapeutics of HIV-1. We identified a potent HIV-1 replication inhibitor (ZBMA-1, IC50 = 1.01 μM) that efficiently protected APOBEC3G protein by targeting Vif-APOBEC3G complex. The co-immunoprecipitation and docking studies indicated that compound ZBMA-1 affected the binding of Elongin C with Vif protein.
Keywords: APOBEC3G; Elongin C; HIV-1; Vif; ZBMA-1.
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