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Quantification of the In Vitro Inhibitory Effects of the Arachis Hypogaea Lectin on HIV‐1 Reverse Transcriptase
Author(s) -
Garza Christen Ann,
Ynalvez Ruby
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.921.19
Subject(s) - reverse transcriptase , lectin , arachis hypogaea , arachis , biology , enzyme , in vitro , dna , antigen , rna , virology , biochemistry , immunology , gene , botany
Lectins are proteins known to bind to specific carbohydrates quite similar to antibody binding to its antigen. Since lectins possess this activity, it is evident that they could interfere during cell‐to‐cell communication and other biological processes. Plant lectins show promising abilities to potentially treat those afflicted with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or HIV/AIDS. The reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme performs the role of transcription of RNA to DNA during the replication of HIV‐1. This allows for integration of viral DNA into the host genome and spreading of the virus. However, if this enzyme is inhibited, the replication process of HIV‐1 is directly disrupted. The objective of this study is to investigate the anti‐HIV effects of a lectin found in the peanut plant, Arachis hypogaea , by inhibition of RT. No studies yet have been reported that this lectin shows such activity. By using an Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), it was concluded that the plant lectin from Arachis hypogea , revealed an elevated anti‐HIV RT activity.