Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) are a potent class of anti-viral compounds that block HIV replication through steric inhibition of HIV reverse transcriptase (RT). Several reports have shown that NNRTIs also induce premature HIV-1 protease activity within the host cell cytoplasm, resulting in non-specific cleavage of multiple host proteins and subsequent death of infected CD4+ T cells and monocytes, termed targeted activator of cell kill (TACK). Harnessing the specific elimination of HIV-1-infected cells by NNRTI-induced HIV-1 protease activation has been proposed as a therapeutic approach to eliminate HIV-1-infected cells, which may be a beneficial component to HIV cure strategies aimed at purging latently infected reservoirs.

ImQuest BioSciences has developed an in-house methodology to assess TACK mechanisms, in the context of Primary Human PBMCs and THP-1 cells infected with single cycle VSV-G-NL4-3-GFP virus.

Please contact us to learn more about TASK assay services, and how we can support the development and testing of your HIV molecules.