Research reveals why HIV remains a long-term infection -
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has the ability to integrate into the human genome, which makes it extremely difficult to cure the infection. A new study by scientists at the Research Institute of Seattle Children, University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that when HIV integrates into the genes involved in cancer, these cells tend to breed a greater extent than other cells infected with HIV. The study "Global Centre for Infectious Disease Research," was published on July 10, 2014 online edition of the journal Science .
"Our findings suggest that HIV can change the function of some infected cells, and increased proliferation of these cells allows them to survive despite effective treatment, "said Thor A. Wagner, MD, of the Center for research on infectious diseases at global 'children's research Institute in Seattle and co-lead author of the study. Wagner is also assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington.
"Using a test we developed to analyze both the sequence of HIV and where it fits into the chromosome, we found that when HIV inserts into cancer genes cells containing the virus proliferate more than other cells infected with HIV, "said Sherry McLaughlin, Ph.D., senior researcher at the research Centre on global infectious diseases at the children's research Institute in Seattle, researcher in microbiology at the University of Washington and co -Lead author of the study. "This proliferation can keep the virus in the body, so that if treatment is stopped, the virus can become active again."
Since 1995, patients with HIV were able to prevent the disease from progressing by taking a combination of three antiviral drugs to suppress virus replication to undetectable levels. in 1996, measurements decline in cells infected with the virus in people taking medications predicts that the total elimination of the virus for three years would cure the infection. More recently, it became clear that the cells despite effective treatment against HIV-infected decreased much more slowly. This new research suggests that the infection persists partly because the virus is integrated into certain human genes that promote survival.
According to Dr. Wagner, "This research brings us closer to understanding why HIV is a long-term infection and can lead us to new ways to cure HIV."
for the study of several years, a total of 534 proviral integration sites were sequenced from three participants at three time points each. mainstreaming HIV in the same chromosomal site was found in multiple cells within each participant to follow throughout high, then no identical integration sites were shared by the various participants, which suggests that cells infected with HIV proliferate.
Three approaches have been used to explore whether the observed distribution of the HIV integration sites was random or shaped by selective forces. Specifically, the researchers examined the distribution of HIV integrations and found them to be in the genes associated with cancer, regulation of cell proliferation or cell survival by more than expected.
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