Possible cure for HIV patients?
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On December 7th, an article was published in PLoS One that explained that researchers from UCLA AIDS Institute have found a way to use human stem cells to fight HIV-infected cells. The human stem cells can be engineered into cells that can target and kill the infected cells.
The researchers explained that they took the CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which are the cells that help fight infections in the body, from an infected individual and identified the T-cell receptors. The T-cell receptors are the cells that recognize and kill the HIV-infected cells. The receptors do not generate enough to completely destroy the virus but the researchers have found a way to engineer these cells and produce large quantities of the HIV-specific CD8 cells.
The researchers determined that the HIV-specific T cells have to match the individual in order to properly work and destroy the infected cells.
The next step for the team at UCLA AIDS Institute is to test this method on a human body and determine if this new strategy will work.
“These studies lay the foundation for further therapeutic development that involves restoring damaged or defective immune responses toward a variety of viruses that cause chronic diseases, or even different types of tumors,” says Scott Kitchen, a lead investigator and assistant professor at UCLA AIDS Institute. This strategy could be an effective weapon in the fight against AIDS and any other viral disease.
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Jacksonville Science News ExaminerBrett Walden
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