Molecular dynamic simulation studies of the South African HIV-1 Integrase subtype C protein to understand the structural impact of naturally occurring polymorphisms

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Date

2021

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Western Cape

Abstract

The viral Integrase (IN) protein is an essential enzyme of all known retroviruses, including HIV-1. It is responsible for the insertion of viral DNA into the human genome. It is known that HIV-1 is highly diverse with a high mutation rate as evidenced by the presence of a large number of subtypes and even strains that have become resistant to antiretroviral drugs. It remains inconclusive what effect this diversity in the form of naturally occurring polymorphisms/variants exert on IN in terms of its function, structure and susceptibility to IN inhibitory antiretroviral drugs. South Africa is home to the largest HIV-1 infected population, with (group M) subtype C being the most prevalent subtype. An investigation into IN is therefore pertinent, even more so with the introduction of the IN strand-transfer inhibitor (INSTI) Dolutegravir (DTG).

Description

>Magister Scientiae - MSc

Keywords

HIV-1, South Africa, Integrase subtype C, Protein, Antiretroviral drugs

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