HIV-1 protease variants from 100-fold drug resistant clinical isolates: expression, purification, and crystallization

High-resolution X-ray crystallographic structures of HIV-1 protease clinical variants complexed with licensed inhibitors are essential to understanding the fundamental cause of protease drug resistance. There is a need for structures of naturally evolved HIV-1 proteases from patients failing antiretroviral therapy. Here, we report the expression, purification, and crystallization of clinical isolates of HIV-1 protease that have been characterized to be more than 100 times less susceptible to US FDA approved protease inhibitors.