DDX3 is an enzyme that helps HIV move from the nucleus (the cell’s ‘brain’) to the cell cytoplasm.
The HIV virus binds with the nucleus and copies itself. Then it moves from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and is released from the cell. To do so, the virus needs the protein DDX3. A DDX3 inhibitor can slow down or stop this process.
HIV-RNA is the genetic material of the HIV virus.
- Instead of a person’s DNA, HIV uses RNA to store its instructions.
- When HIV infects a cell, it uses a particular enzyme to convert its RNA into DNA. This DNA is added to the host cell’s DNA.
- The new DNA ensures that the cell produces more HIV-RNA and more HIV particles, so that the virus can spread.
HIV-RNA is therefore needed for producing new viruses and maintaining the infection.
If you block DDX3, the HIV RNA stays inside the nucleus of the cell. This causes the cell to destroy itself and die.
This also happens because DDX3 inhibitors reduce a protein called Survivin. Survivin helps cells stay alive. Without this protein, and with too much HIV RNA in the nucleus, the cell cannot survive.