HIV/AIDS News: Study Discovers How HIV Permeates Macrophage Defenses, Could Be Key to Eliminating the Virus in Patients
A brand-new research courtesy of scientists at University College London resulted in a possible breakthrough in terms of finally creating a cure for Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic.
The team, whose academic work has already been published in The Emboj Journal, detail how they were able to devise a way to prevent HIV from disabling macrophages' natural defense against viruses. The phagocytic cell found in tissues is a major proponent of the immune system, which plays an important part in maintaining the viral defense of HIV/AIDS patients.
Normally, HIV is not able to reproduce inside the macrophage because of a protein called SAMHD1. However, there is a small window of time when it turns down its protective shield, allowing the virus to permeate the cell. Unfortunately, up until now, the reason for this has yet to be found out.
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The scientists discovered that subjecting the cells to Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors prevents SAMHD1 from shutting down. This effectively cancels out the chances of HIV getting inside the cells and quietly reproducing there.
The development is especially important as HIV tends to embed itself in macrophages and hide there to avoid treatments. Once the medicine wears out its effect, the virus then comes out, minimizing its supposed efforts in getting rid of the infection.
"Our findings could help explain why some people undergoing antiretroviral therapy for HIV continue to have HIV replication in the brain, as the infected cells in the brain are typically macrophages," Dr. Ravindra Gupta, one of the researchers who worked on the study, explained in a recently released statement. "While this is a barrier to achieving control of HIV in just a minority of patients, it may more importantly be a barrier to a cure," he added.
For the tests, the scientists used cultures of human macrophages extracted from cells in vitro as well mouse macrophages found in the rodent's brain tissues. Both responded well to HDAC inhibitor treatment.
