With the successful suppression of the AIDS virus (HIV) through
medication, the focus turns toward its eradication. Researchers from Kumamoto
University in Japan have developed a new compound that is key to the
destruction of HIV.
When the compound is introduced into infected cells, viral budding (release) is
suppressed thereby confining it within the host cells. The cells then die
naturally through apoptosis (cell death). This treatment is believed to lead to
the complete recovery from AIDS
in the near future.
In recent years, multi-drug therapy has made it
possible to suppress HIV multiplication in the body when taken properly. This
method, however, cannot remove the virus particles of the latent HIV
reservoir—non-replicating virus particles that remain dormant in the cells of
the body. As soon as drug administration is stopped, the viral load will
again increase in the body. Removal of the viral reservoir is currently the top
goal in AIDS
research.
The "kick and kill" approach, which was
developed several years ago, is a strategy for killing reservoir cells. This
technique uses a drug that targets the reservoir cells and activates the virus
which then allows the immune system to find these cells using the activated
virus as a landmark. Although this approach was clinically tested, there is
still the problem of not being able to efficiently deactivate the virus after
successful activation.
Researchers at Kumamoto University developed a new
approach that they call "Lock-in and apoptosis." First, they
synthesized the compound L-HIPPO, which binds strongly to the HIV protein Pr55Gag and
suppresses viral budding. When L-HIPPO was added to virus-infected cells via
a carrier called α-CDE, the virus became confined within the cell and the cell
would die through natural apoptosis.
"Unfortunately, this approach is not immediately
available for people infected with HIV,"
said Associate Professor Mikako Fujita of Kumamoto University, one of the
leaders of the study. "First, we have to improve upon the drugs that
activate the virus and combine them with L-HIPPO to efficiently target the
viral reservoir. This would be a big step towards a complete recovery from HIV.
We believe that our research will help to completely eradicate AIDS."
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-10-method-cells-infected-aids-virus.html
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