Ribosomal frameshifting: an emerging drug target for HIV.

Combating HIV currently remains one of the key public health challenges. While immense effort has been invested in the development of HIV-targeted therapeutic agents, interfering with protein synthesis is a relatively unexplored area. HIV has an absolute requirement for a -1 ribosomal frameshift event during translation that constitutes a potentially attractive target for interfering with the viral life cycle. Research suggests that while a considerable amount of investigation is still required, targeting frameshifting in HIV with small molecules, peptides and oligonucleotides is feasible.