Research Provides Hope For Potential Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Knockout Technique
Yes it’s true, reports in the Nature biotechnology journal state that researchers have found a technique which enables immune cells to become resistant to the HIV virus. Although it is still early days, there is real hope that this could possibly lead to the development of a potential treatment method for individuals infected with the HIV virus, but further research is still needed.
The human immunodeficiency virus compromises the human immune system. HIV infects cells of the immune system, predominantly CD4+ T helper cells. This infection spreads causing a reduction in these vital immune cells. Eventually individuals affected with HIV generate Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
This image shows the generation of many daughter HIV particles.
This technique developed by scientists makes use of zinc finger nucleases. These are proteins that are able to generate double strand breaks at specific locations. The research team modified this property and directed it towards cutting out the CCRD protein. A protein that is found on the surface of T helper cells and a lack of it prevent HIV from infecting these immune cells.
Gene therapy was used as a means for delivering these zinc finger nucleases into mice. The method utilised adenoviral vectors. The results from the research showed a significant reduction in the infected immune cells. Furthermore treated mice had a larger T cell count than untreated mice.
So putting this piece of research into context, it provides us with a possible treatment method for AIDS from knocking out HIV, but this research still needs to be replicated in mice and then possibly in an organism with higher homology to humans, such as great Apes. One issue with this technique is regarding the method of gene therapy used. Adenoviral vectors were used to transfer the zinc finger nucleases. The use of adenoviral vectors with humans is something which has had a huge setback in the world of gene therapy, due to the death of Jesse Gelsinger. He died from an immune reaction triggered by the adenoviral vectors during a gene therapy trial. However this case was fraught with negligence and failures on part of the university and researchers involved and many have stated that if proper precautions where taken Jesse’s death may have been avoidable.
If this research is applied successfully in humans then it will be very likely that a potential treatment for AIDS could be created from knocking out HIV.
Source
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/33799/title/HIV_knockout
