Breakthrough in HIV cure as scientists find way to eliminate AIDS-causing virus
Scientists have managed to eliminate HIV from infected cells, which is seen as a major breakthrough in the race for a cure.
Using ‘genetic scissors’, experts in the laboratory were able to cut the virus from infected T cells, removing all traces.
Experts said the hope is that the technique can one day be developed into a treatment, ending the need for lifelong antiviral medications.
HIV integrates into the DNA of the infected person and takes over the host’s cell machinery to replicate.
Using ‘genetic scissors’ they were able to cut the virus from infected T cells in the laboratory, removing all spores (stock)
The latest UKHSA data shows that the number of HIV diagnoses has increased by 22 per cent – from 3,118 in 2021 to 3,805 in 2022
Although it can be effectively controlled with antiviral therapies, ‘reservoirs’ for reinfection remain, meaning it can reoccur when treatment stops.
Scientists want to develop a treatment that can prevent the disease from evading the body’s immune system.
Using the Crispr genome editing technique, researchers from Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands, have honed in on the part of the virus that is common to all known HIV strains.
They were also able to target these ‘hidden’ HIV reservoir cells by focusing on specific proteins found on the surfaces of these cells.
Speaking ahead of the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, the authors said that ‘these findings represent a crucial advance towards designing a cure strategy’.
“While these preliminary findings are very encouraging, it is premature to claim that a functional HIV treatment is on the horizon,” she added.
Lead researcher Dr. Elena Herrera-Carrillo said the hope is to provide a therapy capable of effectively combating multiple HIV variants.
But she said significant work will be needed to translate the proof of concept into a treatment that targets the majority of HIV reservoir cells, which will likely take years.
It remains one of many developments in the field, with the successful use of the technique in monkeys last year leading to recruitment for the first human trials.
Elsewhere, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine claim to have identified drugs that show promise in reversing HIV’s ability to evade detection by the immune system.
Drugs traditionally used in cancer patients, proteolysis targeting chimeras, or PROTACs, were able to target a key protein and suppress HIV replication while showing signs of restoring the immune response.
Commenting on the research, Dr James Dixon, associate professor of stem cell and gene therapy technologies at the University of Nottingham, said there is no cure yet.
He said: ‘Using CRISPR technology to extract or inactivate the HIV genome is a much-discussed but promising strategy.
‘However, the delivery of these systems remains a major issue and much more work will be required to demonstrate that the results of these cell assays can be delivered across a whole body for future therapy.’