Modelling binding between CCR5 and CXCR4 receptors and their ligands suggests the surface electrostatic potential of the co-receptor to be a key player in the HIV-1 tropism

摘要

BackgroundCCR5 and CXCR4 are the two membrane-standing proteins that, along with CD4, facilitate entry of HIV particles into the host cell. HIV strains differ in their ability to utilize either CCR5 or CXCR4, and this specificity, also known as viral tropism, is largely determined by the sequence of the V3 loop of the viral envelope protein gp120.