Patent ID: 7097970

Claim:
A method for identifying whether a compound inhibits cellular entry of a population of virus infecting a patient, comprising: (a) contacting a population of virus with cells in the presence of the compound, wherein the cells express a cell surface receptor and/or co-receptor to which the population of virus binds, and wherein the population of virus comprise: (i) a viral expression vector that lacks a nucleic acid encoding a viral envelope protein and which comprises an indicator nucleic acid that produces a detectable signal, and (ii) a population of envelope proteins derived from the population of virus infecting the patient; (b) measuring the amount of detectable signal produced by the cells; (c) contacting the population of virus of step (a) with a second sample of cells, wherein the second sample of cells express a cell surface receptor and/or co-receptor which binds to the virus; (d) measuring the amount of detectable signal produced by the second sample of cells in step (c) in order to determine the infectivity of the population of virus; and (e) comparing the amount of signal measured in step (b) with the amount of signal measured in step (d), wherein a decrease in the amount of detectable signal indicates the compound inhibits cellular entry of the population of virus infecting the patient.