AVI BioPharma Presents Novel HIV Drug Candidate Results.Cell-Culture Research Targets HIV-1 Vif and Tar Stem Loop PORTLAND, Ore. -- AVI BioPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:AVII), presented research results titled "Morpholino Antisense Oligomers that Target the Lentiviral Vif Gene and Tar Stem Loop are Novel Antiretroviral Drug Candidates" at the 14th Annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI CROI Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections ), held this week in Los Angeles. Richard K. Bestwick, Ph.D., director of antiretroviral research for AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) A Windows multimedia video format from Microsoft. It interleaves standard waveform audio and digital video frames (bitmaps) to provide reduced animation at 15 fps at 160x120x8 resolution. Audio is 11,025Hz, 8-bit samples. , presented the results in poster form. Dr. Bestwick reported on AVI's investigations into the feasibility of novel antiviral targets: the HIV-1 viral infectivity factor Viral infectivity factor, or Vif, is a protein found in HIV and other retroviruses. Its role is to disrupt the antiviral activity of the human enzyme APOBEC (See also APOBEC3G) by targeting it for ubiquitination and cellular degradation. (Vif) and the HIV-1 transactivation Transactivation is an increased rate of gene expression triggered either by endogenous cellular or viral proteins - transactivators. These protein factors act in trans (i.e., intermolecularly). response element (Tar) stem loop. These targets are considered integral to viral replication and protein expression, respectively. The viral genome target sites were selected in part due to their presence in all known viral isolates. The antiviral potential of these targets was evaluated with AVI compounds in test tube (in vitro translation) and cell-culture studies. The studies suggested that the targets are promising candidates for further investigation in more sophisticated cell-culture systems and in animal models. "New approaches to antiviral therapy for HIV-1 are needed," said Patrick L. Iversen, Ph.D., senior vice president of research and development at AVI BioPharma. "These studies add to our growing understanding of antisense approaches to treat viral infections, specifically HIV-1, which represents one of the most challenging areas for antiviral therapy." About AVI BioPharma AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases using third-generation NEUGENE antisense drugs. AVI's lead NEUGENE antisense compound is designed to target cell proliferation disorders, including cardiovascular restenosis, cancer and polycystic kidney disease Polycystic Kidney Disease Definition Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is one of the most common of all life-threatening human genetic disorders. . In addition to targeting specific genes in the body, AVI's antiviral program uses NEUGENE antisense compounds to combat disease by targeting single-stranded RNA viruses, including West Nile virus West Nile virus, microorganism and the infection resulting from it, which typically produces no symptoms or a flulike condition. The virus is a flavivirus and is related to a number of viruses that cause encephalitis. , hepatitis C virus
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