title: Identification of anti-HIV and anti-reverse transcriptase activity from Tetracera scandens.
abstract: We report here that an ethanol extract of Tetracera scandens, a Vietnamese medicinal plant, has anti-HIV activity and possesses strong inhibitory activity against HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RTase). Using a MT-4 cell-based assay, we found that the T. scandens extract inhibited effectively HIV virus replication with an IC(50) value in the range of 2.0-2.5 μg/ml while the cellular toxicity value (CC50) was more than 40-50 μg/ml concentration, thus yielding a minimum specificity index of 20-fold. Moreover, the anti-HIV efficacy of the T. scandens extract was determined to be due, in part, to its potent inhibitory activity against HIV-1 RTase activity in vitro. The inhibitory activity against the RTase was further confirmed by probing viral cDNA production, an intermediate of viral reverse transcription, in virus-infected cells using quantitative DNA-PCR analysis. Thus, these results suggest that T. scandens can be a useful source for the isolation and development of new anti- HIV-1 inhibitor(s).  [BMB reports 2012; 45(3): 165-170].
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory of Molecular Virology, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 137-701, Korea jiyou@catholic.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Hyeok Sang
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Jung Ae
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Joo-Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ji Chang
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: You
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D045466:Dilleniaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase