Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2015 Apr 12;15(6):819–830. doi: 10.1517/14712598.2015.1036736

Figure 1. The life cycle of HIV with targeted intervention points.

Figure 1

HIV binds to the cell surface via the CD4+ receptor and the CCR5/CXCR4 co-receptors. Following fusion with the cell membrane the viral particle enters the cell and its genome is transcribed from RNA to DNA. It is the DNA that is integrated into the host cell genome, and that provides the template to drive transcription of HIV RNA, producing progeny virions that bud off from the cell, completing the infectious cycle. Nuclease-directed disruption of the HIV life cycle could occur at any of the following stages: A. Targeting and preventing the integration of proviral DNA into the genome. B. Proviral DNA, once integrated into the genome, is a target for excision, or deactivation by mutagenic disruption. C. Cellular factors necessary for the HIV life cycle present further targets, and include the co-receptor CCR5 or other host dependency factors.