Antiviral agents

HIV-1 is the human immunodeficiency virus that can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Multiple cellular proteins have been identified as playing a critical role in all steps of HIV-1 replication. The heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein U, or hnRNPU is a RNA and DNA binding protein known to influence pre-mRNA processsing, transport to the cytoplasm, intracellular localization, translation and turnover of mRNAs. Recently, the expression of N86-hnRNPU, an N-terminal fragment of hnRNPU, was found to inhibit HIV-1 mRNA export (6). This study primarily aims at identifying proteins that associate with the fragment (N86-hnRNPU) also called H1, and secondarily aims to exclude the possibility that N86-hnRNPU transcripts act as microRNAs.