Fig. 1

Kudzu inhibits HIV-1 replication of X4 tropic viruses. a, b Activity of Kudzu in acute infection of HeLa-CD4-LTR-LacZ cells with NL4-3. HeLa-CD4-LTR-LacZ cells were infected with HIV-1 NL4-3 strain in the presence of different dilutions of Kudzu. a β-Gal activity was measured 72 h later. Untreat.: untreated. The mean ± SD of 5 independent experiments is represented. b Viral supernatants recovered 72 h post infection were assayed for their p24 antigen content using a sandwich ELISA kit. Untreat.: untreated. Data is a mean ± SD of 2 independent experiments. c Impact of Kudzu on HIV-1 integration. HeLa-CD4-LTR-LacZ were infected with NL4-3 in presence of compounds for 24 h. Next day, DNA was extracted and provirus integration was quantified by Alu-PCR followed by qPCR. Saquinavir (Saq., a protease inhibitor, 200 nM), Efavirenz (Efav., a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, 200 nM), Raltegravir (Ralt., an integrase inhibitor, 200 nM), and AMD3100 (an entry inhibitor, 10 nM) were used as controls. Kudzu was used at 1:200. The mean ± SD of 5 independent experiments is represented. d Impact of Kudzu on HIV-1 integration in primary CD4 ⁺ T cells 24 h post-infection and treatment. A cocktail of antiretrovirals (ARVS: 180 nM AZT, a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, 100 nM Efavirenz and 200 nM Raltegravir) and Enfuvirtide (1 μg/ml) were used as controls. Shown is the mean ± SD of 3 independent experiments. e Activity of Kudzu on reverse-transcription products of HIV-1 10 h post-infection. HeLa-CD4-LTR-LacZ were infected with NL4-3 in presence of compounds for 10 h. Next, DNA was extracted and early and late RT products were measured by qPCR. Kudzu was used at 1:200. Error Bars from qPCR (n = 3) ± SD from 2 independent experiments for early products. The mean ± SD of 4 independent experiments is represented for late products. f Time-of-addition experiment of kudzu in HeLa-CD4-LTR-LacZ infected with NL4-3 strain. Kudzu or control compounds (4 nM AMD3100 and 10 nM Efavirenz) were added at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 h postinfection. β-Gal activity was measured 72 h later. Data shown  is representative of 2 independent experiments. The two-tailed paired t test was used for statistical comparisons. *: p value < 0.05, ***: p value < 0.0005