HIV replication and Pathogenesis Laboratory

Despite the unprecedented world-wide efforts to control it, HIV infection remains a most devastating viral disease. The current lack of success in developing a safe and effective vaccine against the virus, the emerging drug-resistant HIV in patient populations, and other problems associated with anti-retroviral therapy, all underline the demand for more detailed study on the basic mechanisms of HIV replication and HIV pathogenesis.

The AIDS Research Laboratory, located within the IMVS is a component lab of the Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Research (ACH2) and is devoted to basic and translational research on HIV virology. The laboratory is in a unique position to support collaborations between the Royal Adelaide Hospital and School of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences Department of the university. In the past 18 years, the laboratory has developed efficient cellular and molecular models and pioneered studies on the early events of HIV replication and viral pathogenesis. These studies aim to clarify the mechanisms and regulation of different steps in HIV replication, thereby facilitating the development of newer antiviral drugs and other ways to treat or prevent this infection.

Current interests of the lab include:

1. Investigation into the fine mechanisms of HIV reverse transcription and the structural aspects of reverse transcription complexes,
2. Studies on the role of HIV accessory protein Vif and related cellular proteins APOBEC3G and ZIN on HIV reverse transcription and transcription,
3. Studies on cellular signal transduction events, in particular protein phosphorylation, affecting virus uncoating and the activation of reverse transcription,
4. Studies on viral DNA integration and integrated viral DNA load (iVL) in patients as an additional viral marker for HIV disease monitoring, and
5. Studies on HIV viral entry in different cell types and novel approaches to induction of neutralizing antibodies inhibiting viral entry.