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Cyanovirin-N Inhibits AIDS Virus Infections in Vaginal Transmission Models

2004; Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.; Volume: 20; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1089/088922204322749459

1931-8405

Che‐Chung Tsai, Peter Emau, Yonghou Jiang, Michael B. Agy, Robin J. Shattock, Ann Marie Schmidt, William R. Morton, Kirk R. Gustafson, Michael R. Boyd,

Transgenic Plants and Applications

The cyanobacterial protein cyanovirin-N (CV-N) potently inactivates diverse strains of HIV-1 and other lentiviruses due to irreversible binding of CV-N to the viral envelope glycoprotein gp120. In this study, we show that recombinant CV-N effectively blocks HIV-1Ba-L infection of human ectocervical explants. Furthermore, we demonstrate the in vivo efficacy of CV-N gel in a vaginal challenge model by exposing CV-N-treated female macaques (Macaca fascicularis) to a pathogenic chimeric SIV/HIV-1 virus, SHIV89.6P. All of the placebo-treated and untreated control macaques (8 of 8) became infected. In contrast, 15 of 18 CV-N-treated macaques showed no evidence of SHIV infection. Further, CV-N produced no cytotoxic or clinical adverse effects in either the in vitro or in vivo model systems. Together these studies suggest that CV-N is a good candidate for testing in humans as an anti-HIV topical microbicide.