Scientists find anti-HIV lead molecules

At the NCCS in Pune,the HIV research laboratory has been upgraded to biosafety level 2 and people have been warned against entering it.

At the National Centre for Cell Science NCCS in Pune,the HIV research laboratory has been upgraded to biosafety level 2 and people have been warned against entering it. For the last four years now,research has been encouraging and for the first time,scientists,in association with the Punjab-based National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research NIPER,have identified new lead molecules from plant abstracts,synthesised them and are conducting tests in cell culture to evaluate their role as microbicides in the fight against HIV.

The discovery of the new lead molecules,which have shown strong anti-HIV activity,has led the scientists to file for patents. Dr I P Singh,Assistant Director of the Department of Natural Products at NIPER,agrees that it is a novel find and may help further research on HIV.

In the last 25 years,HIV/AIDS has claimed 25 million lives worldwide. The HAART therapy currently in use comprises drugs that are either nucleoside or nucleotide,reverse transcriptase inhibitors or non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor or protease inhibitors or supplemented with the addition of a fusion inhibitor. It is able to control the viral replication but fails to eradicate the virus completely,said Debashis Mitra,a scientist from NCCS who was part of the study.

Thousands of molecules are being researched worldwide but several get lost along the way. Scientists at NCCS and NIPER got together to tap natural products which are a rich source of biologically active compounds. The molecules that have been identified with anti-HIV activity have been modified,synthesised and different analogues have been prepared to improve their utility. At our laboratory the CD 4 cells are infected with the HIV virus and then molecules are added. This is incubated for three-to-seven days. We then assess whether the compounds helped reduce the virus. Now,being a good microbe,it has to inhibit the virus at the entry level. Hence,in-vitro tests in cell culture are planned with cervical epithelial cell lines followed by cervical epithelial explants. Here we can check whether the molecules can work as a potent microbicide and block HIVs transmission, explains Mitra. Coming ahead of World AIDS Day December 1,these findings could contribute to solving the HIV puzzle.