Tag: AIDS
Pathologists Find HIV Weakness
by andreas on Nov.20, 2008, under HIV/AIDS
Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 budding from cultured lymphocyte. Multiple round bumps on cell surface represent sites of assembly and budding of virions.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston believe they have uncovered the Achilles heel in the armor of the virus that continues to kill millions. The weak spot is hidden in the HIV envelope protein gp120, which is essential for HIV attachment to host cells.
The weak spot is hidden in the HIV envelope protein gp120. This protein is essential for HIV attachment to host cells, which initiate infection and eventually lead to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS. Normally the body’s immune defenses can ward off viruses by making proteins called antibodies that bind the virus. However, HIV is a constantly changing and mutating virus, and the antibodies produced after infection do not control disease progression to AIDS. For the same reason, no HIV preventative vaccine that stimulates production of protective antibodies is available.
Patient Reportedly Cured Of AIDS
by andreas on Nov.13, 2008, under HIV/AIDS
Roughly one in 1,000 Americans and Europeans have a resistance to HIV.
German doctors have reported that an AIDS patient who received a bone-marrow transplant appears to have been cured from the virus. The donor had a genetic resistance to HIV.
Performed two years ago, the transplant seems to have helped the 42-year-old patient patient overcome leukemia as well as AIDS. The man has been infected with HIV for more than 10 years.
HIV researcher, Dr. Andrew Badley of the Mayo Clinic has stated that much more testing is needed to prove the man is clear of HIV.
Roughly one in 1,000 Europeans and Americans have an inherited genetic mutation, which prevents HIV from attaching itself to cells.
More information is available on this topic from the BBC.
