A team of biomedical experts from the Scripps Research Center in the US has developed a new strategy to combat the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. In essence, they have come up with a mechanism that makes it possible to create a population of cells resistant to it . In the first laboratory tests, they have observed that these manage to quickly replace the sick, which, in theory, would lead to the cure of the patient.
To do this, these scientists, coordinated by Jia Xie, from the Department of Chemistry of the aforementioned institution, and Richard Lerner, one of the world’s leading authorities in immunology, have devised a system that manages to fix antibodies that fight HIV to immune cells. In an article published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , they point out that once antibodies adhere to the surface of the cell, the virus cannot access a key receptor on it, preventing infection. spread. ” We could say that it is a kind of cellular vaccine,” says Lerner.
“One antibody in the right spot is more effective than many floating in the bloodstream. You don’t need that many molecules, ”says Xie. Cells that do not have this defense system end up dying, while those that do survive and multiply. Their progeny thus inherit protection.
The researchers plan to collaborate with those responsible for the City of Hope medical center, in Duarte, California, to evaluate the effectiveness of this technique and the possibility of developing an HIV treatment from it.
Image: National Institutes of Health
