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HIV head

This week, researchers from the National Institutes of Health reported that they've found a new "weak spot" in HIV that they hope to be able to exploit to pattern an constructive vaccine. Information technology'south an exciting proposition, equally the disease continues to ravage people effectually the world while confounding efforts to create an effective cure. This breakthrough wouldn't lead to a cure for those already infected, but it could dramatically dull the spread of the illness to new people.

The study looked at the antibodies present in an unnamed patient, finding a very strong binder to the HIV viral capsids called VRC34.01, part of a group chosen broadly neutralizing HIV antibodies (bnAbs). They constitute that it is effective at stopping HIV from infecting cells, meaning that if they can design a vaccine to prompt the body to release this antibody, it's possible they could cheaply make most or all people immune.

HIV 2What's near interesting is that these antibodies seem to bind to the and so-chosen "fusion peptide" that allows the virus to fuse with and enter a cell. That'south important because the fusion peptide is very curt, only 8 amino acids long. This means that there'southward not much room for evolution to screw with the sequence — changing any one animo acid changes 12.5% of the overall sequence, likely making fusion impossible.

This means that VRC34.01 can rely on an unchanging target sequence. And since this fusion peptide must get correct upward close to a cell surface in order to work, the virus tin't but grow a large crash-land to physically block the antibody from getting in. Though HIV is legendary for its ability to quickly evolve in response to a medicine or any other pressure, even information technology can't survival-of-the-fittest its way out of certain multi-faceted problems.

That's what makes this a "weak spot" — past miracle cures like AZT piece of work for a while, merely HIV e'er finds a manner to modify or alive without the specific structure involved in the drug's action, and then eventually patients terminate seeing benefits from the drug. By targeting a sequence that HIV cannot alter or hide away without making itself useless, the hope is that this could exist the perfect defense mechanism.

antibody antigen recognition

The antigen stimulates release of the antibiotic — and so at present these scientists need to find an antigen that corresponds to the newly discovered antibiotic.

The matter near antibodies is that they do their work in the areas betwixt cells, which means they can stop viruses from getting into cells, or between cells, but once genetic material does get inside a cell, it's in there. So these antibodies will do zilch for HIV positive people, just they could provide nonetheless another ways to partially repress the spread of the virus within the body. It's this spread that causes HIV to go "full blown" AIDS, and keeping that spread slow and the "viral load" low is of import to keeping HIV positive people from developing symptoms.

Similar cancer research, HIV research has had so many "breakthroughs" that people naturally get cynical about any progress seemingly made toward a wide-ranging cure. But these sorts of fractional cures accept turned HIV from an assured, and quite proximate expiry into a unsafe but manageable disease, like diabetes. Between management of infected people, and prevention of further spread of the infection, it should exist possible to effectively "cure" the disease, or at least its symptoms.

One interesting side note is that HIV is very similar to the hijacked viruses that evangelize engineered genes in advanced biological experiments and haemorrhage edge medical treatments. Could a therapy similar this make an HIV-positive person immune to potentially life-extending cistron therapies, as well?