The fight against human immunodeficiency virus conducted for many years by many teams of scientists from different countries. This retrovirus causing HIV infection in the history of mankind was infected more than 60 million people. More than two-thirds of this number live in Africa South of the Sahara desert. But all of this virus is now spreading in the countries of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. That is why the researchers are still trying to find a way to defeat this dangerous disease. And American biologists, it seems like nobody else is close to solving the problem.
Employees of the University of Pennsylvania managed to modify the DNA of immune cells so that they began to identify cells infected with HIV, until such time as the virus managed to destroy the immune system of the body. Tests involving laboratory mice confirmed the success of the new methods of combating the virus. At the moment, scientists are very optimistic, because a new way of dealing with the virus you can use in order to protect humanity.
“The first time we proved that transgenic T cells are able to protect living organism from returning infection after had stopped taking antiretroviral drugs. The next step is the transfer of the methods of HIV from the laboratory into clinical practice,” said one of the leaders of the study, James Riley.
Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania managed to reprogram immune cells so that they produced antibodies that adhere to the particle of HIV, thus making them visible to the immune system. Previously, this therapy was used to fight against cancer. That’s why the researchers decided to test it in the case of HIV. The original version of cells is not actively fought against HIV, which scientists had to modify them in such a way that efficiency is increased 50 times. After that, the HIV inside the body was finally defeated. The research results were published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
Scientists have created immune cells able to resist HIV
Sergey Grey