Dr.Ayman
10-04-2002, 11:40 PM
Antibody Region That Blocks HIV Identified
October 04, 2002 12:34:50 PM PST, Reuters
New research on people who remain uninfected with HIV ( news - web sites) despite repeated exposures has identified the region on an antibody in their immune system that blocks infection by binding to the virus and neutralizing it.
The antibody, known as IgA, binds to a different region of the envelope surrounding the virus than it does in people who have contracted HIV, according to the report in the September issue of the journal AIDS ( news - web sites).
Antibodies bind to foreign particles that make their way into the body, such as bacteria and viruses, neutralizing them and in some cases destroying them.
IgA works by changing the shape of the HIV coat and barring its entry into its target cells, said Dr. Lucia Lopalco, lead author and a senior researcher at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy. She told Reuters Health that the precise way this happens "is not well known" at this time.
"Future research based on these findings may contribute to the development of new vaccinal and therapeutical strategies against HIV infection," said Lopalco.
Topical products, like vaginal creams, could be developed to prevent new infections, she explained. Another possibility, she added, would be to bioengineer the protein from the HIV coat to which IgA binds in people who resist HIV infection. The protein could then be targeted to cells infected with the virus. The IgA antibody would then be able find those infected cells, bind to them and prevent further replication.
The Italian researcher said that these potential therapies could "resolve a number of problems actually persistent in AIDS patients treated with antiviral therapy," like drug toxicity and drug resistance.
The alternate IgA binding site is but one of several ways the body can defend itself against the AIDS virus. By looking at sexual partners of people with HIV who remain uninfected despite unprotected sex, researchers have found other antibodies and identified other parts of the immune system that block the virus.
When the antibody with the special blocking region was tested in mice, HIV stopped replicating in their bodies.
"The small region recognized by IgA in exposed uninfected people is highly conserved in all of the HIV strains in the different parts of the world," said Lopalco. A therapy based on this research then "could solve the problem of variability of the virus, which is still one of the biggest obstacles to the development of specific vaccines."
SOURCE: AIDS 2002;16:1731-1741.
:rolleyes:
October 04, 2002 12:34:50 PM PST, Reuters
New research on people who remain uninfected with HIV ( news - web sites) despite repeated exposures has identified the region on an antibody in their immune system that blocks infection by binding to the virus and neutralizing it.
The antibody, known as IgA, binds to a different region of the envelope surrounding the virus than it does in people who have contracted HIV, according to the report in the September issue of the journal AIDS ( news - web sites).
Antibodies bind to foreign particles that make their way into the body, such as bacteria and viruses, neutralizing them and in some cases destroying them.
IgA works by changing the shape of the HIV coat and barring its entry into its target cells, said Dr. Lucia Lopalco, lead author and a senior researcher at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy. She told Reuters Health that the precise way this happens "is not well known" at this time.
"Future research based on these findings may contribute to the development of new vaccinal and therapeutical strategies against HIV infection," said Lopalco.
Topical products, like vaginal creams, could be developed to prevent new infections, she explained. Another possibility, she added, would be to bioengineer the protein from the HIV coat to which IgA binds in people who resist HIV infection. The protein could then be targeted to cells infected with the virus. The IgA antibody would then be able find those infected cells, bind to them and prevent further replication.
The Italian researcher said that these potential therapies could "resolve a number of problems actually persistent in AIDS patients treated with antiviral therapy," like drug toxicity and drug resistance.
The alternate IgA binding site is but one of several ways the body can defend itself against the AIDS virus. By looking at sexual partners of people with HIV who remain uninfected despite unprotected sex, researchers have found other antibodies and identified other parts of the immune system that block the virus.
When the antibody with the special blocking region was tested in mice, HIV stopped replicating in their bodies.
"The small region recognized by IgA in exposed uninfected people is highly conserved in all of the HIV strains in the different parts of the world," said Lopalco. A therapy based on this research then "could solve the problem of variability of the virus, which is still one of the biggest obstacles to the development of specific vaccines."
SOURCE: AIDS 2002;16:1731-1741.
:rolleyes: