New method allows tracking of HIV

According to study leaders Prof. Christian Eggeling from Leibniz IPHT, Dr. Cyril Favard and Dr. Delphine Muriaux from the Montpellier Infectious Disease Research Institute, the new method allows to investigate individual molecules in living cells spatially and temporally. "This enables us to reveal cellular mechanisms at the molecular level that are far too fast for previous investigation methods and run on spatial scales that are far too small. he said.

Useing superresolution STED fluorescence microscopy,  Eggeling’s team at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the University of Oxford demonstrated that the AIDS pathogen creates a certain lipid environment for replication. "We have created a method for investigating how this multiplication can potentially be prevented," said Eggeling. 

The researchers examined the diffusion at the budding site of the virus particle and found out that only certain lipids targeted by the viral protein Gag, mainly PI(4,5)P2, in the host cell membrane interacted with the HI virus. Specifically, analysis of HIV-1–infected T helper cells revealed that, upon HIV-1 assembly in the host CD4⁺ T lymphocytes, HIV-1 is able to specifically trap PI(4,5)P2 and cholesterol. The research team proved this interaction directly in living and infected cells for the very first time.

"This provides us with a potential target for antiviral drugs," explains Eggeling. The researcher and his team want to develop antibodies that suppress the spread of the virus. "We not only want to study these antibodies from a medical point of view, but also to find out how their biophysical interaction can be used to enhance their efficacy," concluded Eggeling. 

Christian Eggeling from Leibniz IPHT and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena Picture: Jan-Peter Kasper/ Friedrich Schiller University Jena