Retrocyclins and their activity against HIV-1

    Authors

    W. T. Penberthy; S. Chari; A. L. Cole;A. M. Cole

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Cell. Mol. Life Sci.

    Keywords

    Retrocyclin; Defensin; HIV-1; Host defense peptide; Antimicrobial; peptide; Antiviral; Microbicide; ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDE GOMESIN; CELL FUSION INHIBITOR; HERPES-SIMPLEX-VIRUS; THETA-DEFENSINS; SYNTHETIC PEPTIDE; MARKED; INCREASE; DENDRITIC CELLS; ALPHA-DEFENSINS; CYSTINE KNOT; IN-VITRO; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Cell Biology

    Abstract

    Primate theta-defensins are physically distinguished as the only known fully-cyclic peptides of animal origin. Humans do not produce theta-defensin peptides due to a premature stop codon present in the signal sequence of all six theta-defensin pseudogenes. Instead, since the putative coding regions of human theta-defensin pseudogenes have remained remarkably intact, their corresponding peptides, called "retrocyclins", have been recreated using solid-phase synthetic approaches. Retrocyclins exhibit an exceptional therapeutic index both as inhibitors of HIV-1 entry and as bactericidal agents, which makes retrocyclins promising candidates for further development as topical microbicides to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. This review presents the evolution, antiretroviral mechanism of action, and potential clinical applications of retrocyclins to prevent sexual transmission of HIV-1.

    Journal Title

    Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences

    Volume

    68

    Issue/Number

    13

    Publication Date

    1-1-2011

    Document Type

    Review

    Language

    English

    First Page

    2231

    Last Page

    2242

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000291484800007

    ISSN

    1420-682X

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