VERIFICATION OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PEPTIDE-T AND CD4 USING SURFACE-PLASMON RESONANCE

Peptide T is currently in phase II clinical trials for the treatment o f AIDS-associated dementia. Its putative mode of action is inhibition of binding of the HIV envelope protein (gp120) to its cellular recepto r (CD4), thus preventing viral infectivity and gp120-induced neuronal toxicity. However, a number of reports have appeared in the literature which have failed to observe any inhibitory activity of Peptide T on CD4-gp120 binding, thus casting doubt on this hypothesis. This study u ses a novel biosensor technique to demonstrate that Peptide T does bin d to CD4 and that this binding can be specifically inhibited by an ant i-CD4 monoclonal antibody. A detailed analysis of the kinetics of the interaction is presented.