gp120 findings hard to exploit

For the first time, research shows the structure of the HIV gp120 envelope glycoprotein as it binds to the T cell. But although the new details provide important insights for the design of drugs or antibodies to block virus entry, companies pursuing HIV point out that the findings also reveal hurdles that could make the new knowledge difficult to exploit.

It has been known for some time that gp120 binds to T cells using both the CD4 receptor and the CCR5 or CXCR4 chemokine receptors. X-ray crystallography published last week in Nature and Science by researchers at Columbia University (New York) and Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) shows that gp120 undergoes a structural change as it binds to its first target receptor, CD4...