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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Nucleocapsid Annealing-Mediated Electrophoresis (NAME) Assay Allows the Rapid Identification of HIV-1 Nucleocapsid Inhibitors
Published on: January 19, 2015
A structure-based approach for targeting the HIV-1 genomic RNA dimerization initiation site
Eric Ennifar1, Jean-Christophe Paillart, Serena Bernacchi
1Architecture et réactivité de l'ARN, UPR 9002 CNRS, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, 15 rue René Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg, France. e.ennifar@ibmc.u-strasbg.fr
Abstract:
Dimerization of the genomic RNA is an important step of the HIV-1 replication cycle. The Dimerization Initiation Site (DIS) promotes dimerization of the viral genome by forming a loop-loop complex between two DIS hairpins. Crystal structures of the DIS loop-loop complex revealed an unexpected and strong similitude with the bacterial 16S ribosomal aminoacyl-tRNA site (A site), which is the target of aminoglycoside antibiotics. As a consequence of these structural and sequence similarities, the HIV-1 DIS also binds some aminoglycosides, not only in vitro, but also ex vivo, in lymphoid cells and in viral particles. Crystal structures of the DIS loop-loop in complex with several aminoglycoside antibiotics provide a detailed-view of the DIS/drug interaction and reveal some hints about possible modifications to increase the drug affinity and/or specificity.
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