Prof. Amnon Hizi

Professor Emeritus, Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, Tel Aviv University

Past Positions

My laboratory studies the molecular and biological properties of key enzymes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other retroviruses. In all retroviruses, the reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase (IN) play key roles in the life cycle of HIV. RT catalyzes the transcription of the single-stranded viral RNA into double-stranded viral DNA. This cDNA is further transported into the host cell nucleus and stably-integrated into the chromosomal DNA by a second enzyme, the IN. The unique processes of reverse-transcription and integration are highly specific targets for the chemotherapeutic treatment of retroviral infections, including infections by HIV. Our studies are aimed to understand the biological function and structure relationships of RTs and INs. These studies can contribute to the urgent need for developing specific anti-AIDS drugs by searching for novel approaches how to inhibit the retroviral enzymes.

Herschhorn A, Hizi A. Virtual screening, identification, and biochemical characterization of novel inhibitors of the reverse transcriptase of human immunodeficiency virus type-1. J Med Chem. 2008;51:5702–13.

Bochner, R., Duvshani, A. Adir, N. and Hizi, A., Mutagenesis of Gln294of the Reverse Transcriptase of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-2 and its Effects on the Ribonuclease H Activity. FEBS Letters, 582, 2799-2805, 2008.

Herschhorn, A., Oz Gleenberg, I. and Hizi, A., Quantitative analysis of the interactions between HIV-1 integrase and retroviral reverse transcriptases. Biochem. J., 412, 163-170, 2008.

Herschhorn, A. and Hizi, A., Mechanism of inhibition of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase by the novel non-nucleoside inhibitor - N-{2-[4 (aminosulfonyl)phenyl]ethyl}-2-(2 thienyl)acetamide. Biochemistry, 47, 490 502, 2008.

Hizi, A. and Herschhorn, A., Retroviral  everse transcriptases (other than those of HIV-1 and murine leukemia): comparative analysis of their molecular and biochemical properties. Virus Res. 134, 203-220, 2008.

Armon-Omer, A., Levin, A., Hayouka, Z., Butz, K., Hoppe-Seyler, F., Loya, S., Hizi, A., Friedler, A. and Loyter, A., Correlation between shiftide activity and HIV-1 integrase inhibition by a peptide selected from a combinatorial library. J. Mol. Biol., 376, 971 982, 2008.

Avidan, O. and Hizi, A., Expression and characterization of the integrase of bovine immunodeficiency virus. Virology, 371, 309 321, 2008.

Golan, M., Hizi, A., Resau, J. H., Yaal Hahoshen, N., Reichman, H. ,Keydar, I., and Tsarfaty, I. Human Endogenous Retrovirus (HERV-K) reverse transcriptase as a breast cancer prognosticmarker. Neoplasia, 10, 521 533, 2008.

Oz Gleenberg, I., Goldgur, Y and Hizi, A., Ile178 of the reverse transcriptase of human immunodeficiency type 1 is critical for the inhibition of the integrase of the virus. Biochem. Bioph. Res. Comm., 364, 48-52, 2007.

Kirshenboim, N., Hayouka, Z., Friedler, A. and Hizi, A., Expression and characterization of a novel reverse transcriptase from the LTR retrotransposon Tf1. Virology, 366, 263-276, 2007.

Rosenbluh, J., Hayuka, Z., Loya S., Levin A., Armon-Omer, A., Britan B., Hizi A., Kotler, M., Friedler, A., and Loyter., A., Interactions between HIV-1 Rev and IN proteins: a basis for the development of anti-HIV peptides. J. Biol. Chem., 282, 15743-15753, 2007.

Hayouka, Z., Rosenbluh, J., Levin, A., Loya, S., Lebendiker, M., Veprintsev, D., Kotler, M., Hizi, A., Loyter, A. and Friedler, A., Shiftides: Peptides that inhibit HIV-1 replication by shifting the oligomerization equilibrium of the viral integrase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 104, 8316-8321, 2007.

Herschhorn,A., Lerman, L., Weitman, W., Oz Gleenberg, I., Nudelman, A. and Hizi, A., De novo parallel design, synthesis and evaluation of inhibitors against the reverse transcriptase of human immunodeficiency virus and drug-resistant variants. J. Med. Chem., 50, 2370-2384, 2007.

Oz Gleenberg, I., Herschhorn, A and Hizi, A., Inhibition of the activities of the reverse transcriptase and integrase of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 by peptides derived from the homologous viral protein R (Vpr) of the virus. J. Mol. Biol., 369, 1230-1243, 2007.

Oz Gleenberg, I., Herschhorn, A., Goldgur, Y. and Hizi, A., Inhibition of the reverse transcriptase of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 by peptides derived from the viral integrase. Arch. Bioch. Bioph. 458, 202-212, 2007.

Avidan, O., Bochner, R. and Hizi, A., The catalytic properties of the recombinant reverse transcriptase of bovine immunodeficiency virus. Virology, 351, 42-57, 2006.

Hizi, A.,and Levin, H.L., The integrase of the Long Terminal Repeat-Retrotransponon Tf1 has a chromodomain that modulates integrase cativities. J. Biol. Chem. 280, 39086-39094, 2005.

Oz-Gleenberg, I., Avidan, O., Goldgur, Y., Hirschhorn, A., and Hizi, A., Peptides derived from the reverse transcriptase of human immunodeficiency virus as novel inhibitors of the viral integrase. J. Biol. Chem., 280, 21987-21996, 2005.

Sevilya, Z., Loya, S., Adir, N. and Hizi, A., The ribonuclease H activity of the reverse transcriptases of human immunodeficiency viruses type-1 and type-2 is modulated by residue 294 of the small subunit. Nucleic Acids Res., 31, 1481- 1487, 2003.

Sevilya, Z., Loya, S., Duvshani, A. and Adir, N. and Hizi, A., Mutagenesis of cysteine 280 of the reverse ranscriptase of human immunodeficiency virus type-1: The effects on the ribonuclease H activity. J. Mol. Biol. 327, 19-30, 2003.