DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. other research news
DuPont Merck researchers published evidence showing that HIV uses a single strategy to accomplish the dual goals of activating its own transcription and promoting apoptosis of the cells it invades. The strategy involves an attack on bcl-2, a cellular protein that prevents programmed cell death. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists showed that bcl-2 is fragmented by HIV protease, the protein-degrading enzyme produced by the virus. This both causes eventual cell death and also activates a cellular factor required for viral transcription.The authors also suggest that the dead cells are engulfed by monocytes, which become chronically infected by proviral DNA of the ingested HIV. The monocytes act as important reservoirs of HIV and as transporters of the virus to distant organs. ...