One shot to rid body of HIV
Stuart Buckley (student number: 42065933)
The crux of this article published in the magazine ‘New Scientist’ vol. 201 No. 2696 deals with the techniques scientists plan to delve in to eliminate HIV from infected patients. The article first talks about a German man who was cured of HIV through a bone marrow transplant. The German man developed leukaemia and would then need a bone marrow transplant. Some people have inherited two copies of a delta 32, which is a mutation in a gene called CCR5, one from each parent. This mutation makes CD4 white blood cells not to make a protein on their surface which in turn prevents the HIV virus from using it as a door way to invade the cells. Upon getting his transplant Dr Gero Hütter thought that it might be possible for his medical team to treat his cancer and also give him an HIV-resistant immune system, since his own would be destroyed by chemotherapy. A donor was located who possessed this delta 32 mutation and after the transplant HIV-resistant cells grew in the man’s immune system thus curing his HIV.
Scientists at Sangamo are making artificial versions of natural enzymes call zinc finger nucleases which can locate and disable certain features which you choose. In the case of HIV they want to manipulate the CCR5 gene, so that it stops with the protein production causing HIV not to invade cells. They are undergoing patient trials and they are hopeful that they can alter the CD4 cell which sabotages the CCR5 cells; they then inject the blood that has the manipulated gene back into the body. If the CD4 cells don’t get infected then replication should take place eventually causing the CD4 cell to be dominant and then the body should be full of this gene which will kill off the HIV virus.
There is another area in which they are planning on searching. They think that it would be better to manipulate a cell called the CD34 which is a stem cell. They can make it into any type of white blood cell they need therefore someone’s entire immune system could be HIV-resistant, which is uncanny to the German man. They are taking blood from patients and treating half of the patients with a placebo and the other half with their treatment. They treat the extracted CD34 cells with a virus that has the gene for a ribozyme, which is an enzyme that should stop the cells replicating once there is HIV detected in them. This has its disadvantages due to it doesn’t keep the HIV out of the cell.
These methods and therapies are very exciting in taking a giant leap forward in ridding the world of AIDS. Having one gene shot mandatory from birth once these therapies are successful can pave the way for an AIDS free world and give our immune systems better structure and preparation for other nasty viruses.
