Winning a Key Battle Against HIV

by Alex A. Kecskes

What makes HIV so deadly and impervious to the body's defenses is its ability to hide in immune cells--known as macrophages--whose very job it is to destroy foreign invaders and cellular debris. This has posed a nagging problem for HIV specialists.

Researchers discovered that when HIV faces a shortage of the molecular ingredients it needs to copy itself within an immune cell, the virus adapts by bypassing one of the molecules it usually uses and simply taps another available molecule.

Recently, a team of researchers found a way to block HIV's ability to replicate in macrophages by up to 90 percent. The work opens up a new front in the battle against HIV. Current drugs generally take aim at the infection in immune cells known at CD4+ T cells. The new research allows HIV to be targeted in macrophages--where the virus is out of reach of most of today's drugs.

The first cells that HIV infects in the genital tract are non-dividing target cell types such as macrophages and resting T cells. Most of today's drugs are designed to be effective only when the infection has already moved beyond these cells. Researchers hope to leverage this information to create a microbicide to stop the virus or limit its activity much earlier.

Researchers call this a significant breakthrough and are prepared to exploit new anti-HIV drugs based on this novel approach; an approach that is basically not toxic and that has the potential to treat and prevent HIV infections.

For an added perspective, check out this video: