The Design, Production, and Validation of an Anti-HIV Type 1 Ribozyme

The development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) generally takes of the order of ten years with no effective therapy currently available (1 ,2 ). HIV, the causative agent, exhibits tropism for CD4⁺ T-lymphocytes, the primary targets for HIV infection in vivo. Infection of these cells with HIV results in their selective loss resulting in a progressive and irreversible destruction of the immune system. Viral replication is found at all stages of the disease (3 ,4 ) with an immune response evident, namely antibodies to env and p24 as well as HIV specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (5 ).