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National
Science Foundation
Experimental Program to
Stimulate Competitive Research
Summer
Undergraduate Diversity Research Program
Boramee Douk
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Steve Lodmell
Division of Biological Sciences
Inhibition
of an Essential Step in HIV-2 Replication
using Complementary Oligonucleotides
Abstract
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HIV/AIDS is one of the
world's most devastating diseases, having infected more than 60 million
people worldwide, most of who are in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2001 alone,
the epidemic claimed about 3 million lives. It is considered the fourth-biggest
global killer and will probably continue to worsen unless something is done
soon. There are two viruses that contribute to the AIDS epidemic, HIV-1
and HIV-2. Although the two viruses belong to the same genus and share similar
genomic structures, they do not behave in the same way. HIV-1 is the more
prevalent of the two viruses and has been investigated more extensively.
One major difference between HIV-1 and HIV-2 is a key step in their viral
replication cycles called dimerization. Dimerization, or the binding together
of two copies of genomic RNA prior to or during virus budding, differs between
HIV-1 and HIV-2. My study this summer focused primarily on the genomic location
and mechanism of this essential replication step in HIV-2. In my research,
I used various DNA oligonucleotides, short segments of DNA, to target different
regions along the HIV-2 RNA strand. I tested to see the various effects
that these oligos had on dimerization. Hopefully, the data that I have generated
will be used for further research in the development of pharmaceuticals
to help HIV/AIDS patients. |
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