EDITORIAL OVERVIEW

Special Issue: Structural and Molecular Biology of HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1),
the causative agent for AIDS,
13
has caused nearly
25 million deaths over the past 30 years. An
additional 33 million people are currently living
with HIV-1 infection, including 15.7 million women
and 2.1 million children (UNAIDS 2010 Global
Report). In 2009 alone, an estimated 2.6 million
people became infected with HIV, and 1.8 million
people died from AIDS-related illnesses. About 5%
of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is HIV
positive. HIV infection rates in several major U.S.
cities are similar to those in some sub-Saharan
African countries,
4
and in Washington D.C., one
out of twenty adults is HIV positive.
5
The remarkably prolific development of thera-
peutics for the treatment of AIDS was greatly
facilitated by structure-based drug discovery efforts.
Drugs that target the HIV protease, reverse tran-
scriptase, integrase, and envelope protein are
currently available, and combination therapies can
keep the virus at bay for extended periods, with life
expectancies approaching those of noninfected
individuals.
6
However, it appears unlikely that the
current repertoires will lead to a cure, as the virus
can be maintained in reservoirs that are not
susceptible to the current drugs.
714
Current thera-
peutic regimes are expensive, compliance can
sometimes be difficult, and strains that are resistant
to combination drug therapies have emerged.
1518
Recent network modeling of the evolution of drug-
resistant HIV strains in San Francisco suggests the
potential emergence of a new self-sustaining
epidemic.
19
Thus, there are likely to be needs for
new antivirals that target different viral components.
This Special Edition of the Journal of Molecular
Biology focuses on efforts that have been made
recently to develop more detailed understanding of
the structural and mechanistic aspects of HIV-1
replication. We were gratified that the response to
our call for papers from the HIV-1 research
community was overwhelming, and this has helped
to make the issue both timely and authoritative.
Several major themes emerged from the 10 reviews
and 30 research papers that we are publishing: virus
assembly and maturation, envelope and infectivity;
integration and reverse transcription; transcription
and posttranslational control; and viralhost in-
teractions. Collectively, these papers represent the
cutting edge of contemporary research into the
Molecular Biology of HIV.
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http://www.unaids.org/globalreport/Global_report.
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0022-2836/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Michael F. Summers*
Jonathan Karn
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:
summers@hhmi.umbc.edu.
490 Editorial