Griffithsin
Encyclopedia
Griffithsin, is a protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 isolated from the red algae
Red algae
The red algae are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae, and also one of the largest, with about 5,000–6,000 species  of mostly multicellular, marine algae, including many notable seaweeds...

 Griffithsia. It has a 121-amino acid sequence. It has been shown in vitro
In vitro
In vitro refers to studies in experimental biology that are conducted using components of an organism that have been isolated from their usual biological context in order to permit a more detailed or more convenient analysis than can be done with whole organisms. Colloquially, these experiments...

 to be a highly potent HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 entry inhibitor. It is currently being investigated as a potential microbicide
Microbicide
Microbicides for sexually transmitted diseases, are pharmacologic agents and chemical substances that are capable of killing or destroying certain microorganisms that commonly cause human infection, for example the human immunodeficiency virus....

 for use in the prevention of the transmission of HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

.

Griffithsin shows a broad spectrum ability to bind to the glycoproteins of other viruses, such as the coronavirus. Griffithsin's three identical carbohydrate domains bind to specific oligosaccharides on the envelope of viral glycoproteins. This was demonstrated by in vitro
In vitro
In vitro refers to studies in experimental biology that are conducted using components of an organism that have been isolated from their usual biological context in order to permit a more detailed or more convenient analysis than can be done with whole organisms. Colloquially, these experiments...

 and in vivo
In vivo
In vivo is experimentation using a whole, living organism as opposed to a partial or dead organism, or an in vitro controlled environment. Animal testing and clinical trials are two forms of in vivo research...

 studies. For instance, it was shown that griffithsin binds to the SARS-CoV spike glycoprotein to inhibit entry of the SARS virus and thus inhibit infection.

Griffithsin

As reported in March 2009, Kenneth Palmer et al. modified the tobacco mosaic virus to incorporate the griffithsin gene and infected more than 9,300 tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

plants. They were able to extract enough griffithsin to produce about 100,000 HIV microbicide doses from the leaves.
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