Methods of identifying agents for inhibiting lentivirus replication

US7108988B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• THE J. DAVID GLADSTONE INSTITUTES · US

Inventors

• Michael Sherman · Davis, US
• Warner C. Greene · Chapel Hill, US
• Ulrich Schubert · Jena, DE
• Victor Wray · Braunschweig, DE
• Uwe Tessmer · Hamburg, DE
• Peter Henklein · Belfast, GB
• Karsten Bruns · Westerstede, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 30, 2002
• Grant date: Sep 19, 2006
• Expiry date: Mar 31, 2024

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01N2500/04
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

The present invention provides screening methods for identifying a compound that induces loss of the lentiviral protein Vpr; screening methods for identifying compounds that inhibit the peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase (PPIase) activity of a protein that catalyzes cis-trans isomerization of cis-peptidylprolyl bonds in Vpr; and compounds identified by the screening methods. The compounds are useful for treating a lentiviral infection. The present invention further provides methods of inducing loss of the lentiviral protein Vpr; methods of inhibiting lentivirus viral replication; and methods of treating a lentivirus infection in an individual. The methods generally involve administering to an individual infected with the lentivirus an effective amount of a compound that induces Vpr loss and/or that inhibits PPIase activity of a protein that catalyzes cis-trans isomerization of cis-peptidylprolyl bonds in Vpr.