New immune cell can fight off HIV
Mon, Jul 07 2010
US researchers have used gene therapy to engineer a human stem cell that boosts the immune system in mice against the virus responsible for the development of AIDS.

Previous studies have reported that individuals with a mutated gene variant known as CCR5 are naturally resistant to infection with the most common strains of HIV and do not develop AIDS.

"That's like nature telling us how to cure AIDS," said lead researcher Paula Cannon, adding that the experimental treatment used this idea "to engineer a patient's own cells so they'd be resistant to HIV."

According to a study published in Nature Biotechnology, mice who had received the modified human stem cells were capable of maintaining normal levels of the human T cells -- the immune cells mainly affected with HIV -- and suppress the progression of HIV.

The genetically engineered human blood stem cells were transplanted into mice after their CCR5 gene was turned off using certain enzymes. These cells, thereafter, multiplied into mature immune system cells including T cells.

After a couple of weeks, these manipulated immune cells grew greatly in number and protected the mice against HIV.

"By engineering CCR5-deficient stem cells, we may allow a patient to produce HIV-resistant cells in all of the cell types that the virus infects, and for long periods of time," Cannon said.

"This hybrid gene and stem cell therapy show that it is possible to create HIV-resistant immune cells that can eventually win the battle against HIV," added Cannon, stressing that it could be four years before similar research in humans can begin. 
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