March 30, 2009

Innovative Video Captures Cell-to-Cell HIV Transfer

By creating a molecular clone of infectious HIV and inserting a special gene into its genetic code, scientists were able to film how the virus spreads directly from infected CD4 cells to uninfected ones, The Daily Telegraph reports. Researchers hope that the digital video will lead to new breakthroughs in treatment and vaccine development.

According to the article, the video showed that when an infected CD4 cell (a.k.a. T-cell) comes into contact with a healthy one, it forms a bridge called a virological synapse. Because the inserted gene used in the study turned HIV fluorescent green when exposed to blue light, scientists were able to observe the viral particles entering the healthy cell.

While researchers discovered that HIV travels from cell-to-cell via virological synapses in 2004—in addition to migrating freely between cells—they did not yet know why the process was so effective. This video illustrates that cell-to-cell transfer helps the virus avoid immune system detection in ways free-circulating virus does not.

“Direct T-cell-to-T-cell transfer through a virological synapse is a highly efficient avenue of HIV infection, and it could be the predominant mode of dissemination,” said study coauthor Benjamin Chen, assistant professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

Watch the video below:

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Previous Comments:

dUSTIN, WINFIELD, 2009-04-29 23:57:10
continued, THE IMUNE SYSTEM WOULD THEN ATTACK THE MARKED CELLS AND RESPOND TO THE AREA AND KILL THE INFECTED CELLS.

dUSTIN, WINFIELD, 2009-04-29 23:55:53
tHIS VIDEO SHOWS WHAT I HAVE TOLD DOCTORS FOR SOME TIME, ABOUT MAKING A PROTINE THAT ATCHES TO THE OUTER SERVICE OF THE CELL AND CAUSES THE IMUNE SYSTEM TO RECOGNIZE THE NEW VIRAL AGENT LIKE BEING COUGHT IN A NET OF CHEMICAL, THUS SENDING THE IMUNE RESPONSE FASTER TO KILL THE INFECTED CELL BEFORE IT BURSTS; THE WAY HIV INFECTS IS IT CAUSES THE CELL TO BURST OPEN AS YOU SEEN THIS IS WHAT KILLS THE TCELL. IF THE IMUNE SYSTEM COULD RECOGIZE THE TCELLS NOW MARKED BY THE BURST THEN IT COULD

Bryan Gabbard, Ohio, 2009-04-26 12:54:10
Hmm what is confusing me is why we still can't demonstrate how hiv is killing so many tcells after all of these years. Here we see that it would not even be beneficial for HIV to kill a tcell. Retrovirus do not kill cells. This seems to demonstrate that. I thought it was supposed to explode? Can we get that on video please? And how is HIV killing more cells than it infects? All this leaves me with are more questions. Where is the research? Where is what happens next?

Donald Rankins, Temecula, 2009-04-06 16:00:31
This means nothing at all because the drug companys will never let anyone cure hiv or anything at all. The cure would not make anyone any money. They only care about the bottom line.$$$$$$

Jose Villarreal, Del Rio, Tx., 2009-04-05 00:44:25
So this is how the motherf***ker does it?. It is so overwhelming to me to know that such a single transmission of cell-to-cell material, can be able to kill and have killed millions and millions of humans already, among them some of my family and my dearest friends. How can the human intelligence work to create such evil. This must me only equivalent to what humanity felt when the media showed the atomic bomb devastation for the first time. This video made me cry in anguish.

Black pozgirl, London, Uk, 2009-04-04 15:44:46
They need to make another video showing how excatly the medications work...

heather, , 2009-04-03 17:55:42
Hello I am a 26 year old heterosexual female who has been poz for about 5-8 years. I would like to know what this video may mean in terms of a cure. I feel very hopeful that a cure may be found within the next 10-20 years is this a possibility that I should look foward to? Please respond thank you

Richard S, Boulder, 2009-04-02 18:26:55
Amazing, yes. Scary. Worlds at war way under the skin. Makes you want to reach in and squeeze that green invader until it pops. Maybe it will be that easy sometime soon. In the meantime, who wants coffee?

63801, Missouri, 2009-04-02 11:22:27
Amazing capture! I proves that HIV hijacks our own cells and uses them against us.

Richard Haymes, Jersey City, 2009-04-01 17:21:41
Seeing what this is occurring in mine and million of other people's bodies day in and day out is like science fiction...and is it just me or does the newly infected cell all of a sudden look like it is in agony?

Sankar Kumar Dey, Chinsurah-Hooghly,India, 2009-04-01 12:38:25
It is a beautiful video in deed. It is very much helpful for a physician who is working in the field of HIV/AIDS,like me.

Michael Irwin, London UK, 2009-03-31 13:07:00
Such poor journalism. No explanation as to what precisely is happening in the video. At least when it was shown on the mainstream TV news here we were given some info. I expect more.

Marc Smolowitz, San Francisco, 2009-03-31 11:57:26
Funny how it looks so harmless when presented this way. So much so, one would think it would be easy enough to stop in its tracks. But, clearly, it's much more complicated than that!