title: Ribotoxin restrictocin manifests anti-HIV-1 activity through its specific ribonuclease activity.
abstract: Restrictocin, a highly specific ribonuclease produced by Aspergillus restrictus, cleaves a single phosphodiester bond in a universally conserved stem and loop structure termed sarcin/ricin loop within the large ribosomal RNA of all organisms. In the current study, we demonstrate restrictocin to manifest anti-HIV-1 activity in two model cell systems. Using two mutants of restrictocin, we further show that the anti-HIV-1 activity of restrictocin is due to its specific ribonucleolytic activity. The study suggests that restrictocin is able to recognize region(s) within HIV-1 genome as its target. Restrictocin appears to have potential as a therapeutic antiviral agent against HIV-1.
authors.affiliation: Immunochemistry Laboratory, National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Santosh K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.affiliation: Immunochemistry Laboratory, National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India; Centre for Molecular Medicine, National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India. Electronic address: janendra@nii.res.in.
authors.forename: Janendra K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Batra
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000201:enzymology*; D002460:Cell Line; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24 / Q000378:metabolism; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D012260:Ribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016662:Virus Integration / Q000187:drug effects; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C036196:MITF protein, Aspergillus restrictus; D012260:Ribonucleases
keywords: Antiviral; HIV-1; RNase; Ribotoxins; Sarcin