Retroviruses Assembly

Robert Weldon, Jr., PhD - University of Nebraska-Lincoln, School of Biological Sciences.

Because a protective HIV vaccine is not available and the use of chemotherapeutic drugs (e.g. RT and protease inhibitors) often lead to the emergence of drug-resistant viruses, new antiviral therapeutics that block additional stages of the virus life cycle would be highly advantageous. This project focuses on identifying those cellular targets that are essential for assembly and release of retrovirus particles and for which novel antiviral therapeutics might be developed.