Structure-based Design of Novel Hepatitis B Virus Capsid Assembly Modulators.

Small-molecule capsid assembly modulators (CAMs) have been recently recognized as promising antiviral agents for curing chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. A target-based in silico screening study is described, aimed towards the discovery of novel HBV CAMs. Initial optimization of four weakly active screening hits was performed via focused library synthesis.

An automated microfluidic platform for the screening and characterization of novel hepatitis B virus capsid assembly modulators.

To date, hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid assembly modulators (CAMs), which target the viral core protein and induce the formation of non-functional viral capsids, have been identified and characterized in microtiter plate-based biochemical or cell-based assays. In this work, we developed an automated microfluidic screening assay, which uses convection-dominated Taylor-Aris dispersion to generate high-resolution dose-response curves, enabling the measurements of compound EC values at very short incubation times. The measurement of early kinetics down to 7.

Incoming HIV virion-derived Gag Spacer Peptide 2 (p1) is a target of effective CD8 T cell antiviral responses.

Persistence of HIV through integration into host DNA in CD4 T cells presents a major barrier to virus eradication. Viral integration may be curtailed when CD8 T cells are triggered to kill infected CD4 T cells through recognition of histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I-bound peptides derived from incoming virions. However, this has been reported only in individuals with "beneficial" HLA alleles that are associated with superior HIV control.