Sci/Research: development of virus to target HIV

[azulai]

Some cool research going on. mile:
Science Daily: Scientist Develops Virus That Targets HIV: Using a Virus to Kill a Virus

ScienceDaily (Aug. 8, 2011) — In what represents an important step toward curing HIV, a USC scientist has created a virus that hunts down HIV-infected cells.

Dr. Pin Wang's lentiviral vector latches onto HIV-infected cells, flagging them with what is called "suicide gene therapy" -- allowing drugs to later target and destroy them.

"If you deplete all of the HIV-infected cells, you can at least partially solve the problem," said Wang, chemical engineering professor with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

The process is analogous to the military practice of "buddy lasing" -- that is, having a soldier on the ground illuminate a target with a laser to guide a precision bombing strike from an aircraft.

Like a precision bombing raid, the lentiviral vector approach to targeting HIV has the advantage of avoiding collateral damage, keeping cells that are not infected by HIV out of harm's way. Such accuracy has not been achieved by using drugs alone, Wang said.

So far, the lentiviral vector has only been tested in culture dishes and has resulted in the destruction of about 35 percent of existing HIV cells. While that may not sound like a large percentage, if this treatment were to be used in humans, it would likely be repeated several times to maximize effectiveness.

Among the next steps will be to test the procedure in mice. While this is an important breakthrough, it is not yet a cure, Wang said.

"This is an early stage of research, but certainly it is one of the options in that direction," he said.

Wang's research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, appears in the July 23 issue of Virus Research.

[Gabbyboy]

oh wow this s good news! i know that someday there will be a cure, however i think it would be very expensive , but atleast a bright future for the next next next generation.

[sweetlad2010]

Ive always wondered where HIV and AIDs really come from?

[dfiant]

Great news, and may it provide break through treatment for cancer and other diseases.

Sweetlad, Having lived through the dawn of HIV/AIDS (Scary times to be gay) and all the rumours about the 'Gay Plague' which have largely been found to be untrue (Can catch AIDS From kissing, touching etc), I think the most valid rumour was it started somewhere in Africa and was transmitted through monkeys and I believe I have read somewhere that HIV has been traced back as far as the late 1950's

[ZackT]

Back to the 30's actually. Supposedly, anyway. But the earliest known documented diagnosis of HIV is from 1959 in Congo. The deal is that they think it came from people who hunted and sold/ate monkey meat. However, this has been going on for ages, so why did it not become so widespread until now? They think because of the use and abuse of needles not being properly sterilized, prostitution combined with other diseases like syphilis...things like that.

I took that from Wikipedia.

[mrk2010]

Wow usually I keep up to date with biological phenomina, I'm going to look into this. Thanks for posting mile:

[azulai]

Just adding another article to existing thread.

Source: gizmag Spanish scientists trial promising HIV vaccine

September 28, 2011
Researchers at the Spanish Superior Scientific Research Council (CSIC) have successfully completed Phase I human clinical trials of a HIV vaccine that came out with top marks after 90% of volunteers developed an immunological response against the virus. The MVA-B vaccine draws on the natural capabilities of the human immune system and "has proven to be as powerful as any other vaccine currently being studied, or even more", says Mariano Esteban, head researcher from CSIC's National Biotech Centre.

The MVA-B vaccine first showed promising signs back in 2008 when clinical trials involving mice and macaque monkeys demonstrated a very high efficiency against Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). The recent human trials involved 30 healthy volunteers, where 24 were treated with MVA-B, while the other 6 were treated with a placebo, carried out over a 48 week period.

Development of MVA-B is based on the insertion of four HIV genes in a previously used vaccine (MVA) for smallpox. When injected with the vaccine, a healthy immune system can react against the MVA, whilst the HIV genes are incapable of self-replicating. This guarantees a safe clinical trial for HIV free volunteers. Furthermore by trialing the vaccine on healthy patients, the immune system can learn how to detect and combat the HIV virus components. "It is like showing a picture of the HIV so that it is able to recognize it if it sees it again in the future", says Esteban.

"Our body is full of lymphocytes, each of them programmed to fight against a different pathogen" continued Esteban. "Training is needed when it involves a pathogen, like the HIV one, which cannot be naturally defeated".

The trial demonstrated how the vaccine stimulates the production of lymphocytes B, which produces HIV attacking antibodies that block the virus from infecting healthy cells. Blood tests during the 48th week revealed that 72.7% of the treated volunteers had developed these HIV fighting antibodies. However generating a long lasting response against future attacks truly renders the vaccine effective. This is achieved when the body maintains a basic memory level of T lymphocytes, which are generated after the first attack and can circulate the body for years. The T lymphocytes are responsible for stimulating the attacked cell's immune response, which can then identify and destroy the HIV virus. Blood tests during the 48th week revealed that the 85% of the patients maintained the memory T lymphocytes immune response.

"MVA-B immune profile meets, initially, the requirements for a promising HIV vaccine," says Esteban. Although it does not remove the virus from the body, the immune response induced by the vaccine could keep the virus under control by destroying the infected cell.

According to CSIC, "if this genetic cocktail passes Phase II and Phase III future clinic trials, and makes it into production, in the future HIV could be compared to herpes virus nowadays".

Phase I clinic trials will also commence with HIV infected volunteers to test its efficiency as a therapeutic vaccine.

[Genersis]

Nice!
The idea sounded promising, like many, but this one seems to be developing really well.:biggrin:

And i know the media can hype things up a bit, but only time will tell in the end.mile: