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A team from the Institut Pasteur has identified the characteristics of CD4 immune cells, the main targets of the HIV virus, which constitute a weak point that can be exploited to attack and eradicate it.
According to a study published in the journal Cell Metabolism" A team of Pastor Institute Identify a vulnerability in "stored" cells AIDS, Which opens the door to eliminate them.
Current HIV treatments last a lifetime because they fail to eliminate the virus stocks of immune cells.
"The antiviral drugs, which disrupt the viruses and act against them to prevent their proliferation, can not eliminate the infected cells," said Assier Sayes-Sirion, head of the study.
The Pasteur team was able to identify the characteristics of CD4 cells, immune cells that are the main target of HIV. The study showed that the virus first affects cells with significant metabolic activity.
This activity, especially the consumption of glucose cells, plays a key role in the infection. The virus "spoils" the energy and production of the cell to multiply. This virus is a vulnerability that can be exploited to attack "stored" cells.
The researchers were able to stop the infection through molecules mimicking metabolic activity, a method also used in the field of cancer.
He noted that the team had noted similarities between these cells and cancer cells, thus allowing the use of the same methods. But he explained that it is likely that it will take several years before testing these methods as part of a Phase III clinical trial showing the effectiveness of the discovery. .
France 24 / AFP
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