Scientists Find New Clues to Fighting HIV

Immune system, genetic discoveries suggest vaccine, treatment strategies.

By E.J. Mundell
HealthDay Reporter
Monday, May 14, 2007; 12:00 AM

Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

MONDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- HIV uses a particularly clever mechanism to infect immune system cells, a new study finds, while a second study reveals that certain gene combinations may help slow the progression to AIDS.

Both findings point to intriguing new ways of thwarting HIV, experts say.

"Our immune systems are very effective at fighting HIV -- they are just not quite effective enough," explained Rowena Johnston, vice president of research at the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) in New York City.

She believes the new insights could someday lead to interventions that boost human immune responses to the virus that causes AIDS.

In one study, published May 13 in Nature Immunology, a British team focused on a key point of contact between HIV and immune system agents called dendritic cells. These cells are found in abundance in the mucosal linings of the mouth, genitalia or rectum.

"We are interested in dendritic cells in HIV infection because when you become HIV-positive through sexual activity, they are probably the first cells that HIV encounters," said Johnston, who was not involved in the study. "So, dendritic cells are critical in determining the next step" of whether HIV infection takes hold or not, she said.

In their research, the British scientists found that HIV latches onto a particular surface receptor protein, called DC-SIGN, as it binds with the dendritic cell. That link-up triggers a biochemical signaling cascade that virtually ensures the virus' continued success, the team found.

"[We] found several idiosyncratic aspects of this signal that could favor HIV-1 replication," explained lead researcher Alison Simmons, a clinician scientist at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford. "These include repression of factors that facilitate normal immune responses and activation of factors allowing more effective viral transmission to bystander immune cells."

As HIV grabs onto dendritic cells, it also travels to its ultimate goal, the immune T-cell. The widespread destruction of these T-cells causes the terrible immune deficiency of AIDS.