Identification of a Novel Anti-HIV-1 Protein from Momordica balsamina Leaf Extract

Morgan I. Coleman, Mahfuz Khan, Erick Gbodossou, Amad Diop, Kenya DeBarros, Hao Duong, Vincent C. Bond, Virginia Floyd, Kofi Kondwani, Valerie Montgomery Rice, Francois Villinger and Michael D. Powell ()
Additional contact information
Morgan I. Coleman: Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Mahfuz Khan: Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Erick Gbodossou: PROMETRA International, Dakar-Etoile BP 6134, Senegal
Amad Diop: Malango Traditional Healers Association, Fatick BP 1763, Senegal
Kenya DeBarros: Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Hao Duong: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Vincent C. Bond: Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Virginia Floyd: Department of Community Health and Prevention, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Kofi Kondwani: Department of Community Health and Prevention, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Valerie Montgomery Rice: Office of the President, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Francois Villinger: Department of Biology Director, New Iberia Research Center, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 4401 W Admiral Doyle Drive, New Iberia, LA 70560, USA
Michael D. Powell: Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-12

Abstract: Our lab investigates the anti-HIV-1 activity in Momordica balsamina ( M. balsamina ) leaf extract. Traditional Senegalese healers have used M. balsamina leaf extract as a part of a plant-based treatment for HIV/AIDS infections. Our overall goal is to define and validate the scientific basis for using M. balsamina leaf extract as a part of the traditional Senegalese treatment. As an initial characterization of this extract, we used activity-guided fractionation to determine the active ingredient’s solubility and relative size. We found that M. balsamina leaf extract inhibits HIV-1 infection by >50% at concentrations of 0.02 mg/mL and above and is not toxic over its inhibitory range (0–0.5 mg/mL). We observed significantly more antiviral activity in direct water and acetonitrile extractions ( p ≤ 0.05). We also observed significantly more antiviral activity in the aqueous phases of ethyl acetate, chloroform, and diethyl ether extractions ( p ≤ 0.05). Though most of the antiviral activity partitioned into the aqueous layers, some antiviral activity was present in the organic layers. We show that the active agent in the plant extracts is at least 30 kD in size. Significantly more antiviral activity was retained in 3, 10, and 30 kD molecular weight cutoff filters ( p ≤ 0.05). In contrast, most of the antiviral activity passed through the 100 kD filter ( p ≤ 0.05). Because the active anti-HIV-1 agent presented as a large, amphiphilic molecule we ran the purified extract on an SDS-page gel. We show that the anti-HIV-1 activity in the leaf extracts is attributed to a 30 kDa protein we call MoMo30. This article describes how MoMo30 was determined to be responsible for its anti-HIV-1 activity.

Keywords: HIV-1; MoMo30; fusion inhibitor; extract; antiviral; antiviral protein; antiviral plant (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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