Buckyball Computer Simulations Help Team Find Molecular Key To Combating HIV
Sunday, May 24, 2009 - 21:28
in Biology & Nature
Researchers have identified specific molecules that could block the means by which HIV -- the deadly virus that causes AIDS -- spreads by taking away its ability to bind with other proteins. Computer simulations were used to test more than 100 carbon fullerene, or "buckyball," derivatives initially developed for other purposes to see if they could be used to inhibit a strain of the virus, HIV-1 PR, by attaching themselves to its binding pocket.