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Latest experiment have revealed how HIV virus hides, preventing antiviral drugs from flushing it out in the bloodstream. New findings made by University of California, San Francisco researchers discovered the cells can become latent by refusing to reproduce like a normally infected cell.
Presently, there is no cure for HIV, the virus infects CD4 T cells, a type of immune cell, and uses the cell’s DNA to produceyresentl viral RNA – which transports genetic messages for making proteins. These new virus bodies then leave the cell to infect more. However, the latency phase, in which an HIV-infected cell stops reproducing for a long period of time is unknown.
Because they are not reproducing the virus, they are difficult to target using current treatments. It is impossible to separate uninfected from infected cells, let alone latently infected cells. Latently-infected cells are rare, there are currently no treatments that can kill latent cells or stop them from reactivating.
HIV positive patient can becomes ‘undetectable’ when treatment suppresses the virus to a level so low in their blood that it cannot be detected by measurements. An undetectable load is achieved with daily doses of antiretroviral drugs.
San Francisco team performed a series of tests on the latent HIV-infected cells. They discovered bits and pieces of viral RNA, showing the virus was attempting to reproduce unsuccessfully. If the cells can be compelled to finish the transcription process then they will no longer be invisible to treatments. Drugs that will make them finish the viral RNA can be made into viral proteins so that the body can recognize and kill the infected cells.
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