Found the 'pure' of the HIV virus

Once the HIV virus invades a human cell, it will reside there forever. Viruses will insert their deadly genome into the victims' DNA, forcing them to rely on medical treatment for the rest of their lives.

However, for the first time, researchers in Philadelphia and the United States have found a way to completely remove HIV from human cells through the "pure" use of the virus.

The team from the Medical School, Temple University (USA), announced, breaking the first successful attempt to remove the HIV-1 virus from human cells that could become a cure. treatment for other latent infections.

HIV viruses are emerging from an infected cell

"This is an important step in the path to permanently treating AIDS. This is an interesting discovery, but still not ready for use in hospitals. It is evidence that we are going in the right direction, " said Professor Kamel Khalili, chairman of the Department of Neuroscience at Temple University.

In a research report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Khalili and colleagues detailed in detail how they created molecular tools to remove HIV-1-infected DNA. When deployed, a DNA enzyme called nuclease (an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of nucleic acids) Cas9 combined with a strip of RNA called a guided RNA (gRNA) will track the genome of the virus and remove DNA. of HIV-1.

From here, the cell's gene repair mechanism will be responsible for mending the loose ends of the genome together, leading to cells free of viruses."Because the immune system never clears HiV-1, it is necessary to first remove the virus , " explains Dr. Khalili.

Such molecular tools also promise to bring a therapeutic vaccine, since cells equipped with a nuclease -ARN combination have proven "immune" to HIV.

There are more than 33 million people in the world that carry AIDS in the world. Although high-active antiretroviral therapy (Haart) has been able to control HIV-1 in people with viral infections in developing countries for the past 15 years, the virus can reappear if there is any interruption. about treatment.

Even copying low levels of the HIV virus in an infected person causes "misery" to be more likely to suffer from aging-related diseases, such as cardiomyopathy, kidney failure , more osteoporosis.