The fight against the human immunodeficiency virus has been carried out for many years by the efforts of many teams of scientists from different countries. More than 60 million people have been infected with this retrovirus, which causes HIV infection. More than two thirds of this number live in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. But the virus is spreading fastest today in the countries of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. That is why researchers are still trying to find a way to defeat this dangerous disease. And American biologists seem like no one else has come close to solving this problem.
Employees at the University of Pennsylvania managed to modify the DNA of immune cells in such a way that they began to recognize cells infected with HIV, before the virus had time to destroy the body's immunity. Tests with laboratory mice have confirmed the success of the new method of fighting the virus. At the moment, scientists are extremely optimistic, because a new way to fight the virus can be used in order to protect humanity from it.
“For the first time, we have proven that transgenic T cells are able to protect a living organism from the return of infection after antiretroviral drugs have been stopped. Our next step is to move HIV from the laboratory to clinical practice,”said James Riley, co-leader of the study.
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have succeeded in reprogramming immune cells to produce antibodies that bind to HIV particles, making them visible to the body's immune system. Previously, similar therapy was used to combat cancer. That is why the researchers decided to try it in the case of the fight against HIV. The original version of the cells did not actively fight HIV, which is why the scientists had to modify them in such a way that their effectiveness increased 50 times. After that, HIV inside the body was finally defeated. The research results were published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
Sergey Gray