Tre recombinase is an experimental

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

that in lab tests has removed DNA inserted by

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

from infected cells. Through selective mutation,

Cre recombinase Cre recombinase is a tyrosine recombinase enzyme derived from the P1 bacteriophage. The enzyme uses a topoisomerase I-like mechanism to carry out site specific recombination events. The enzyme (38kDa) is a member of the integrase family of sit ...

which recognizes loxP sites are modified to identify HIV long terminal repeats (loxLTR) instead. As a result, instead of performing

Cre-Lox recombination Cre-Lox recombination is a site-specific recombinase technology, used to carry out deletions, insertions, translocations and inversions at specific sites in the DNA of cells. It allows the DNA modification to be targeted to a specific cell type ...

, the new enzyme performs recombination at HIV provirus sites. The structure of Tre in complex with loxLTR has been resolved (), allowing for analyzing the roles of individual mutations.

References

External links

* {{Antiretroviral drug Genetics Molecular biology