SPECTRAL STUDY OF THE INTERACTION OF HEMIN WITH SOME HIV-1 V3 SYNTHETIC PEPTIDES

摘要

Hemin has been shown to have antiviral activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The mechanisms of action and the stage in the viral life cycle at which hemin exerts its inhibitory effect on HIV are still not well understood. In Romania, the currently available data suggest the predominance of HIV-1 subtype F. V3 diversity might be reflected by particular drug susceptibility profiles. In the present study the binding equilibrium of hemin to a peptide corresponding to the tip of the V3 loop of subtype F was characterized using absorption spectral analysis. In order to asses the importance of some amino acids to this interaction, the binding of hemin with two other related peptides was also investigated. Our study revealed particular affinity of hemin for subtype F synthetic peptides and reinforces the concept that drug resistance may influence in the future the worldwide distribution of different HIV-1 subtypes.