PCHPI Annual Meeting 2008

Welcome to the University of Pittsburgh Center for HIV Protein Interactions (PCHPI).

Welcome to our website. We invite you to explore our web pages and learn more about our center and the biology of HIV. After reading through these pages, if you have any questions or comments or would like to begin a scientific collaboration, please contact the PCHPI coordinator,Teresa Brosenitsch. We hope you find these pages helpful and look forward to hearing from you.

The Pittsburgh Center for HIV Protein Interactions (PCHPI), located in the Department of Structural Biology at the University of Pittsburgh, is one of three interdisciplinary centers funded under the NIH initiative to determination the structures of HIV/host complexes. The PCHPI specializes in developing methodologies and tools for investigating the protein-interaction networks that are essential for the early stages of HIV infection of a cell. More specifically, we are interested in understanding the biology of HIV structural (Capsid) and accessory proteins (Vif, Vpu, Rev, Nef, Vpr, and Tat) and the host proteins with which these proteins interact (including TRIM5α, APOBEC, Hck, and GR). . The PCHPI derives spatial atomic and cellular level structures of these proteins using structural methods (X-ray crystallography, NMR, cryo-EM) and, with state-of-the-art imaging methodologies, follows the temporal sequence of key events that occur after virus-cell fusion and before HIV genome integration. Further, bioinformatics and cell biological approaches are used by our investigators to identify novel host proteins that interact with HIV Reverse Transcriptase and HIV accessory proteins and to validate the biological significance of previously identified interactions.

The PCHPI brings together scientists and facilities of the highest caliber to elucidate the interactions of HIV proteins with host cell factors. One of our highest priorities is to foster collaborations between HIV researchers and structural biologists; therefore, methodologies and tools developed by the PCHPI are disseminated to the HIV research community at large. Results generated from these collaborations are expected to provide insight into an important area of HIV pathogenesis that is poorly understood and to open doors for exploring and developing alternative anti-HIV strategies.