Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have discovered a new stage in the life cycle of the HIV infection using a novel technique that takes images of infected cells while they are still intact. They have dubbed the new phase as intra-nuclear migration and found that it relies on the human protein CPSF6 to guide it through the host cell's nucleus to genes where it can house itself.
"This study reveals an important stage and mechanism in HIV infection that was previously unappreciated," Abraham Brass, who oversaw the study, said in a press release. "It's important to know more about these early infection events so we can come up with ways to stop the virus from becoming part of our DNA and infecting us for life."
The new technique developed by the team is called ViewHIV, which is able to create images of both the viral genome and protein capsid at the same time while they are inside an infected host cell. This allows them to view the movement of the viral capsid, DNA and RNA inside of the cell, giving them greater insight into the infection.
"We believe ViewHIV is going to be a great tool for unlocking the mechanisms that govern the early state of HIV's life cycle," said Brass. "With our technique we can better determine how HIV establishes itself into our DNA and develop new ways to stop that from happening."
The findings were published in the Nov. 24 issue of Cell Reports.
