FOLDED MONOMERS OF THE HIV-1 PROTEASE AND METHODS OF THEIR USE

摘要

The present invention relates to defining regions critical for dimerization of HIV-1 protease and production of folded protease monomers that inhibit dimerization and function of the wild-type protease. The invention also relates to HIV-1 inhibitors targetting the regions critical for dimerization. There are provided methods for interfering with viral maturation in HIV patients using these folded monomers or their encoding nucleic acids. Also provided are methods for treating HIV in conjunction with other antiviral therapies and medications. Further, the present invention provides assays for measuring dimerization ability of retroviral proteases and for evaluating the viral infection, and methods of screening for agents capable of binding to HIV-1 protease at the areas critical for dimerization.