title: The D-amino acid peptide D3 reduces amyloid fibril boosted HIV-1 infectivity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Amyloid fibrils such as Semen-Derived Enhancer of Viral Infection (SEVI) or amyloid-β-peptide (Aβ) enhance HIV-1 attachment and entry. Inhibitors destroying or converting those fibrils into non-amyloidogenic aggregates effectively reduce viral infectivity. Thus, they seem to be suitable as therapeutic drugs expanding the current HIV-intervening repertoire of antiretroviral compounds.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, we demonstrate that the small D-amino acid peptide D3, which was investigated for therapeutic studies on Alzheimer's disease (AD), significantly reduces both SEVI and Aβ fibril boosted infectivity of HIV-1.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since amyloids could play an important role in the progression of AIDS dementia complex (ADC), the treatment of HIV-1 infected individuals with D3, that inhibits Aβ fibril formation and converts preformed Aβ fibrils into non-amyloidogenic and non-fibrillar aggregates, may reduce the vulnerability of the central nervous system of HIV patients for HIV associated neurological disorders.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Widera
authors.forename: Antonia Nicole
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Yeliz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cinar
authors.affiliation: Institut für Virologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany. aileen.funke@hs-coburg.de.
authors.forename: Susanne Aileen
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Funke
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Willbold
authors.forename: Heiner
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schaal