April 29, 2008

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.

Search: interleukin-2, National Institutes of Health, NIH, Genome, NHGRI, Pamela Schwartzberg, CD4, T cell

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