COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR INHIBITING HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS INFECTION BY DOWN-REGULATING HUMAN CELLULAR GENES

摘要

The present invention relates to the identification of a number of human genes as cellular targets for the design of therapeutic agents for suppressing human immunodeficiency virus infection. These genes encode products which appear to be necessary for HIV replication, as evidenced by an inhibition of HIV infection in cells in which the expression of these genes is down-regulated. In addition, the invention also relates to methods for identifying additional cellular genes as therapeutic targets for suppressing HIV infection, and methods of using such cellular genes and their encoded products in screening assays for selecting additional inhibitors of HIV.