Interfering with Immune Protein Slows HIV Reproduction
Inhibiting or blocking the production of an immune system-signaling protein made CD4 cells less able to be infected and thus slowed HIV reproduction, according to a press release from the National Institutes of Health’s Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).
Pamela Schwartzberg, MD, PhD, a senior investigator from the NHGRI, conducted test-tube studies using human CD4 cells to determine the impact of blocking the action of the immune-signaling protein called interleukin-2-inducible T cell kinase (ITK). This protein is central in spurring CD4 cells to respond to infections.
Schwartzberg tried blocking ITK in two different ways—first, with chemical inhibitors of the protein, and second, by using a method called RNA interference to stop CD4 cells from making ITK. In both cases, CD4 cells were subsequently exposed to HIV, and Schwartzberg found that the virus had a harder time entering and integrating its genes into the cells’ genes, thus slowing viral replication.
Experts hope that blocking ITK will not keep the body from being able to respond to other kinds of viruses, and Schwartzberg points to separate research that seeks to develop safe ITK-blocking drugs for the treatment of asthma and other diseases.
It is too soon to tell whether the HIV replication-blocking effect Schwartzberg found in test tubes can be safely reproduced in humans, but one possible benefit to her approach is that, unlike with typical antiretroviral drugs, it is highly unlikely that HIV would develop resistance to an ITK inhibitor.
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
