Adding minuscule bits of gold, called nanoparticles, to a failed HIV drug causes it to work much better without creating dangerous side effects, say the authors of a study published online on May 13 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and reported by ScienceDaily.
Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ TAK-779 is an entry inhibitor that was designed to bind to the CCR5 receptor on the surface of CD4 cells. HIV uses this receptor to enter and infect CD4 cells. For TAK-779 to work properly, it requires an aluminum salt molecule. This molecule, however, was found to cause side effects. Because the drug doesn’t work without the molecule, its development was halted indefinitely.
Christian Melander, PhD, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and his colleagues questioned whether adding gold nanoparticles in place of the salt molecule might allow TAK-779 to work without adding side effects. When Melander’s team joined a fragment of the drug to a gold nanoparticle, they found that the combo was able to shut down HIV reproduction in test-tube studies.
Because the human body does not react negatively to gold, Melander’s team believes that the new version of TAK-779 bound to gold nanoparticles shouldn’t have significant side effects. “We've discovered a non-harmful way to improve the strength and efficacy of an important drug,” Melander says. “There’s no reason to think that this same process can’t be used with similar effect on other existing drugs.”
In fact, researchers from Tibotec and other companies are actively exploring ways to use nanoparticles to create versions of both approved and experimental HIV drugs that may only need to be taken once a month or even less often.
NEW! Scroll down to comment on this story.
Please click OK to confirm your comment and confirm you accept our posting rules. Note your message will be reviewed by our staff before going live.
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.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
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."
