Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
United Press International - September 21, 2006
PARIS, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- French scientists say they've developed a new technique to visualize HIV particles inside infected cells as they make their way to the cell's nucleus.
The study by Pierre Charneau and colleagues at the Pasteur Institute in Paris is said to show HIV's internal voyage with unprecedented detail.
Once HIV has infected a cell, the viral genome makes its way to the nucleus of the cell, where it integrates into a chromosome to complete infection. It's known some of the viral proteins coating the HIV genome are gradually lost, but the exact process of how HIV particles go from the periphery of the cell to inside the nucleus was unclear.
By fluorescently labeling the Integrase protein -- a viral protein that remains associated with the HIV genome until integration into a human chromosome -- the scientists followed the virus all the way from cell entry to inside the nucleus. In addition, they developed sophisticated software that allows them to precisely analyze very small movements of the viral particle.
The researchers say their work might lead to new ways of blocking HIV infection.
The study is published in the October issue of the journal Nature Methods.
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