The mutations in HIV leading to drug resistance has made treatment of HIV-1 infection challenging. I wonder, if alternative approaches can be explored to control HIV infections and simultaneously handle the mutations issue.
In my opinion, HIV-1 Integrase is a better target than Protease and Reverse Trancriptase, the other two viral enzyme. The lack of human homologue and the vital role the enzyme Integrase plays in the development of HIV, leads me to this opinion. Raltegravir and Elvitegravir, the two drugs developed to control HIV by targeting the Integrase enzyme have been somewhat successful in controlling the virus. However, the rapid rate of mutations in HIV has resulted in the organism building resistance to these drugs as well.
I am mulling the possibility of developing a drug that can inhibit the integration of viral DNA with the target DNA by blocking the target DNA’s availability. I am assuming that the failure of integration and further replication of the viral DNA should lead to the disintegration of the virus. The challenge here is to identify a methodology that would release the target DNA when the viral DNA is disintegrated and make sure that there is no viral DNA left to integrate to the released Target DNA.
I am sure there are others out there who are already working on these thoughts, and I would love to hear your opinion.
