Patent ID: 7129055

Claim:
A method of identifying an agent that inhibits entry of a macrophage-tropic HIV virus into a target cell, wherein said entry of the macrophage-tropic HIV into said target cell is a fusion process mediated by CC-CKR5 and CD4 expressed on the surface of said target cell, the method comprising the steps of: (a) contacting said target cell with a virus pseudotyped with a macrophage-tropic HIV envelope in the presence or absence of said agent; (b) measuring the fusion between the virus pseudotyped with a macrophage-tropic HIV envelope and said target cell, wherein the measurement of said fusion is performed by a fluorescence intensity detection or by a fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis, and (c) determining whether said fusion of the virus pseudotyped with a macrophage-tropic HIV envelope is inhibited in the presence of the agent but not in the absence of the agent.