2021 AMI Online Salon
HIV Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitor with Intasome
Project Details
- Entrant Name: Amy Cao
- Client: Dr. Dmitry Lyumkis
- Copyright: Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 2020
- Medium/software used: Autodesk Maya, Photoshop, Illustrator, Procreate
- Final presentation format: Journal cover
- Primary Audience: Researchers and educated public
Project Description
Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitors (INSTIs) work by blocking integration of viral DNA into the host genome, thus preventing HIV from establishing a permanent infection in the host cell. This cover image accompanies a review paper by Dr. Dmitry Lyumkis and his lab discussing recent structural findings that provide an accurate depiction of interactions of INSTIs with intasomes, the viral machine that catalyzes the irreversible insertion of HIV DNA into target host chromatin, to be leveraged for structure-based drug design. The illustration depicts the molecular structure of the investigational compound 4d (center), one of the most potent INSTIs currently in development, bound to the HIV intasome active site. The image was selected as the cover for the Sep 2020 issue of Trends in Pharmacological Sciences.
