The object of this project is to determine the mechanism by which the coat proteins (GP-120 and GP-160) from the AID virus enhances the formation of eicosanoids. Our initial effort was devoted to examining several cellular systems, human monocytes, Jurkat T cells and the monocyte line, THP-1 for their ability of metabolizing arachidonic acid to prostaglandins. Preliminary results indicate that the Jurkat cells form only minor amounts of prostaglandins and may not be a suitable model. We are in the process of testing a number of different preparations of GP-120 and GP-160 from several HIV strain for their ability to stimulate PGE2 from human monocytes. We are in the very early phase of this investigation.
