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Yuntao Wu, of George Mason University, is the lead scientist of a research team that has identified a measurable indicator that could prove useful in the fight against HIV.
The research focuses on cofiline, a key protein that regulates cell mobilization and infection control.
According to a recently published study in an HIV-infected patient, cofiline dysfunction is a key factor in T helper cell abnormalities Progress of science. Helper T cells strengthen the body's immune response by recognizing the presence of a foreign antigen, and then helping the immune system generate a response.
"When you have an infection, you have to mobilize T cells," said Wu, professor of Molecule and Microbiology at the College of Science Sciences at Mason's School of Systems Biology and the National Center for Disease Control. biodefense and infectious diseases. "In HIV infection, there is a profound depletion of helper T cells in lymphoid tissues, such as those in the intestine."
Antiretroviral therapy has dramatically increased the lifespan of HIV-infected people, although it does not offer any cure or a complete restoration of the body's immune system, he said. According to the research team, the natural course of HIV infection leads to multiple immune defects, including altered T-cell migration.
Wu and his team found that HIV-positive patients had "significantly lower" levels of phosphorylation of cofiline – which helps control the activity of cofilin with the addition of a phosphate – compared to healthy patients. Cofilin is a key protein that helps cells to generate the engine of migration. Correct phosphorylation of cofiline is required for cells to enter and exit tissues.
Their findings suggest that lasting immune control against HIV should not come from antiretroviral therapy alone, as it is not enough to repair the damage done to cofiline by HIV and to restore the normal migration of HIV. T lymphocytes in and out of tissues.
But the researchers discovered that by stimulating T cells with additional therapeutic agents, such as antibodies against integrin? 4? 7, they could modulate the levels of cofiline activity necessary to restore T cell mobility. Treatment has shown lasting effects on the immune control of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the form simian of the AIDS virus, during a trial in monkeys, but did not give the same results in human patients infected with HIV.
"We now have a marker and at least one target we can focus on to discover new treatments to repair immune damage for functional treatment," said Wu.
Source of the story:
Material provided by George Mason University. Original written by John Hollis. Note: Content can be changed for style and length.
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