Definition of an 18-mer Synthetic Peptide Derived from the GB virus C E1 Protein as a New HIV-1 Entry Inhibitor.

BACKGROUND: A slower progression of AIDS and increased survival in GBV-C positive individuals, compared with GBV-C negative individuals has been demonstrated; while the loss of GBV-C viremia was closely associated with a rise in mortality and increased progression of AIDS. Following on from the previous reported studies that support the thesis that GBV-C E2 interferes with HIV-1 entry, in this work we try to determine the role of the GBV-C E1 protein in HIV-1 inhibition.

METHODS: The present work involves the construction of several overlapping peptide libraries scanning the GBV-C E1 protein and the evaluation of their anti-HIV activity.

RESULTS: Specifically, an 18-mer synthetic peptide from the GBV-C E1 protein, E1(139-156), showed similar antiviral activity against HIVs from viruses from clades A, B, C, D and AE. Competitive ELISA using specific gp41-targeting mAbs, fluorescence resonance energy transfer as well as haemolysis assays demonstrated that this E1 peptide sequence interacts with the highly conserved N-terminal region of the HIV-1 gp41 (the fusion peptide) which is essential for viral entry.

CONCLUSIONS: We have defined a novel peptide lead compound and described the inhibitory role of a highly conserved fragment of the E1 protein.

GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: The results together allow us to consider the non-pathogenic E1 GBV-C protein as an attractive source of peptides for the development of novel anti-HIV therapies.