Density dependence in HIV-1 envelope protein cell-cell fusion assays in the presence of transcription inhibitors

Gerg, Anthony David

Item

Density dependence in HIV-1 envelope protein cell-cell fusion assays in the presence of transcription inhibitors

Gerg, Anthony David

Date

2025-12-02

Abstract

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 (HIV-1) when infecting a cell can cause the expression of viral proteins on the surface of a cell. This can allow for cell-cell fusion to occur, forming syncytia. Using mathematical models, we can model cell-cell fusion and gain information on the biological system such as the syncytia formation rate and fusion time. In Lineberger et al. (2002) a transcription inhibitor was applied to cells transfected with HIV-1 fusion proteins. By fitting the model to the cell-cell fusion data, it is found that the transcription inhibitor affects the syncytia formation rate and fusion time. By introducing a revision to our model that applies density-dependence of syncytia present, we also find that density-dependence increases as dosage of our transcription inhibitor increases as well.