AIDS: the virus is kicked out by the virus
Immune cells immune to HIV will protect the body from AIDS – scientists
"The appearance of protected T cells in the blood of an infected patient will not rid them of the immunodeficiency virus. On the other hand, these cells will protect the body from the collapse of the immune system, which usually occurs with the development of AIDS," said Sarah Sawyer, one of the authors of the discovery from the University of Texas at Austin (USA).
A group of biologists led by Matthew Porteus from Stanford University (USA) has developed a new method of protection against the human immunodeficiency virus by studying mutations in the CCR5 and CXCR4 genes that make some people virtually invulnerable to HIV infection.
The authors of the article were able to isolate the necessary DNA fragments, which contain key parts of these genes, and embed them into a special retrovirus.
This retrovirus penetrates into "adult" immune cells or hematopoietic tissues in the bone marrow, and replaces normal copies of CCR5 and CXCR4 with their "invulnerable" versions. In addition, it attaches one or two more genes to CCR5 that contain instructions for assembling proteins that interfere with the normal operation of the HIV virus.
Scientists have grown several populations of immune system cells and treated them with different versions of the retrovirus, which contained one or two additional genes.
According to Portes and his colleagues, the replacement of CCR5 and CXCR4 and the addition of two other DNA sites made T-lymphocytes – the main "victim" of HIV – virtually invulnerable to infection. According to the researchers' calculations, gene therapy increased resistance to infection by 1200-1700 times, depending on the type of virus and some other conditions.
Biologists warn that their drug is not yet ready for medical use – it is quite possible that the retrovirus will penetrate into different types of cells and cause cancer and other problems.
Scientists plan to test the effectiveness of therapy and its possible side effects on T-lymphocytes extracted from the blood of AIDS patients. Upon successful completion of these experiments, Portes and his colleagues will move on to animal testing. According to them, with a successful combination of circumstances, clinical trials of the drug will begin in 3-5 years.
The press release of Immune cells engineered in lab to resist HIV infection, Stanford study shows is published on the website of the Stanford University School of Medicine – VM.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru23.01.2013