Synthetic peptides of hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) in the selection of putative peptide inhibitors of the HIV-1 fusion peptide.

The GB virus C or hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) is a single-stranded positive sense RNA virus that belongs to the Flaviviridae family. Recent years have seen the publication of numerous works in which coinfection with GBV-C/HGV and HIV has been associated with slower progression of the illness and a higher survival rate of patients once AIDS has developed. The mechanism by which the GBV-C/HGV virus has a "protective effect" in patients with HIV has still not been defined. Study of the interaction of the GBV-C/HGV and HIV viruses could lead to the development of new therapeutic agents for the treatment of AIDS. Given that the mechanism responsible for the beneficial effect exercised by the GBV-C/HGV virus in the course of HIV infection has not been defined, the present work is intended as a study of the structure and interactions between the fusion peptide of HIV-1, gp41(1-23), and synthetic peptide sequences of the E2 envelope protein of GBV-C/HGV using biophysical techniques. Our results highlight that the E2(269-286) sequence interacts with the target fusion peptide of HIV-1 and modifies its conformation.