Binding property of HIV p24 and Reverse transcriptase by chalcones from Pongamia pinnata seeds

HIV remains a challenging life threatening viral agent for humans despite available anti HIV drugs. The known effective drug named HAART clears the circulating viruses but not the intracellular viruses. Therefore, it is of interest to identify molecules with improved anti-HIV activity from natural plant sources. Hence, we studied the anti-HIV potency of an Indian medicinal plant named Pongamia pinnata. Aqueous extracts were made from leaf, seed and roots of Pongmia pinnata and screened for anti HIV-1 activity using HIV-1 p24 and reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibition assays. Further, the active chalcone derivatives namely, P24 protein and RT enzymes showed promising binding score against Glabarachalcone and Karanijin. Among these extracts, P. pinnta aqueous seed extracts have shown HIV-1 p24 inhibition at 66.9 ± 4.4 percentage. However, RT inhibition assay showed only 36.8%. Hence, the HIV-1 p24 inhibition infers either the prevention of virus entry or inhibits other enzymes and or interferes with virion assembly.