How HIV changes to escape early immune defenses
Defining HIV evolution at the innate immune interface
The team will map how every single small change in HIV's capsid affects the virus's ability to escape early human cell defenses, to help people living with HIV.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11170662 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Scientists will create and test thousands of tiny changes across the HIV capsid—the protein shell of the virus—to see which changes let HIV escape human cell-intrinsic defenses like TRIM5α, MxB, and TRIM34. They will use high-throughput saturating mutagenesis to generate every possible single amino-acid change and then measure how those variants behave in lab systems and human-derived cells. Comparing lab results to viral sequences found in people will show which mutations the virus can tolerate and which are blocked by host factors. This information is intended to reveal capsid vulnerabilities that future therapies could target to limit HIV's ability to evolve resistance.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: This is laboratory-based basic research and does not enroll patients or require patient participation.
Not a fit: People seeking immediate new treatments or clinical trials are unlikely to benefit directly because the project focuses on preclinical lab work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could identify capsid weak points that help guide therapies designed to 'box in' HIV and make antiviral treatments harder for the virus to escape.
How similar studies have performed: Prior lab studies have shown individual capsid mutations affect sensitivity to restriction factors, but a comprehensive saturation map of all capsid changes is novel.
Where this research is happening
San Francisco, United States
- University of California, San Francisco — San Francisco, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Tenthorey, Jeannette — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Tenthorey, Jeannette
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.