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A cure for HIV has gone a step further after the discovery of a "firewall" that prevents the reproduction of infected cells.
In laboratory tests on human cells, scientists have discovered that control of a particular molecule can kill dormant HIV reservoirs.
The team said it had been trying to find the switch for three decades and now thought its results could be a way to "eradicate" AIDS.
Currently, HIV-positive people are taking antiretroviral therapy, called antiretroviral therapy, to keep the virus at bay. But a cure remains to be discovered.
The virus can reactivate if treatment is stopped, multiplying rapidly and increasing the risk of transmitting the virus to others or leading to AIDS.
According to the figures, around 36.9 million people are infected with HIV worldwide.
A cure for HIV is one step closer after scientists have discovered a molecular "mortality inhibitor" that prevents the reproduction of infected cells. Stock illustration of HIV in the blood
Dr. Tariq Rana, author of the study, said, "This is one of the key switches that the HIV sector has been looking for for 30 years to find.
"The most exciting part of this discovery has never been seen. [It suggests] we have a potential therapeutic target to eradicate HIV and AIDS. & # 39;
The team from the University of California at San Diego focused on RNA molecules in the body, essential for gene expression and various biological roles in living organisms.
The team found that HIV-infected cells contained a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). In general, lncRNAs help control which genes are turned on or off in a cell.
They genetically sequenced over 1100 lncRNA and found a particular type that was high in people living with HIV.
The American team has nicknamed this particular molecule HIV-1 amplified mRNAc – rightly nicknamed HEAL.
The HEAL gene appears to have emerged relatively recently and it regulates the replication of HIV in immune cells.
In the course of experiments, the researchers either silenced HEAL or extracted genome from HIV-infected cells, using an editing tool called CRISPR-Cas9.
CRISPR is a relatively new tool that scientists can use to cut DNA at a specific location, permanently altering DNA and its encoding.
In both cases, HIV did not return after stopping antiretroviral therapy.
Dr. Rana said, "By genetically modifying a long non-coding RNA, we are preventing the recurrence of HIV in T-cells – a type of white blood cell – and the microglia of immune cells when antiretroviral therapy is suppressed.
"Our results suggest that HEAL plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of HIV.
"Further studies are needed to explain the mechanism leading to HEAL expression after an individual's HIV infection, but this discovery could be exploited as a therapeutic target."
Despite their enthusiasm, the team was quick to add that it was a very early test and that it has not been up to date yet. done on animals, not to mention humans.
The results are published in the journal mBio.
HIV is transmitted by certain body fluids, including blood, sperm, vaginal secretions and breast milk.
People living with HIV who are receiving effective treatment are removed from the virus and can not transmit the virus.
Scientists have discovered that a crucial moment in the search for a cure for HIV was that some "elite" people were mutating into their genes that made them resistant to HIV.
Chinese doctors revealed in March that a bone marrow transplant from one of these people had left an HIV-positive patient in London free of the virus for 18 months.
And a third HIV-positive patient, called "Düsseldorf patient", showed no signs of infection four months after treatment.
The success came 12 years after Timothy Brown, the so-called Berlin patient, who had a similar transplant and got out of his antiretroviral drugs.
But, although the cases have raised new hopes, the method is currently considered too dangerous to be widely used.
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