Researchers Eliminate HIV Virus From Cultured Human Cells

Researchers Eliminate HIV Virus From Cultured Human Cells

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Scientists used a DNA-snipping enzyme called Cas9 to cut out the virus.

The cell's gene repair machinery then takes over, soldering the loose ends of the genome back together – resulting in a virus-free cell.

Process could also be a cure for other latent infections, researchers say.

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Once HIV conquers a human cell, it will stay there forever. It inserts its deadly genome permanently into its victims' DNA, forcing them to require medical treatment for the rest of their life. But now, for the first time, researchers in Philadelphia have found a way to completely delete HIV from human cells by ‘snipping’ them out.

The team of Temple University School of Medicine said the breakthrough marks the first successful attempt to eliminate latent HIV-1 virus from human cells – and could be a cure for other latent infections.

‘This is one important step on the path toward a permanent cure for AIDS,' said Kamel Khalili, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Temple.

'It's an exciting discovery, but it's not yet ready to go into the clinic. It's a proof of concept that we're moving in the right direction,' he added.

In a study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr Khalili and colleagues detail how they created molecular tools to delete the HIV-1 proviral DNA.

When deployed, a combination of a DNA-snipping enzyme called a nuclease and a targeting strand of RNA called a guide RNA (gRNA) hunt down the viral genome and remove the HIV-1 DNA. From there, the cell's gene repair machinery takes over, soldering the loose ends of the genome back together – resulting in virus-free cells.

'Since HIV-1 is never cleared by the immune system, removal of the virus is required in order to cure the disease,' explained Dr Khalili.

These molecular tools also hold promise as a therapeutic vaccine; cells armed with the nuclease-RNA combination proved impervious to HIV infection. Worldwide, more than 33 million people have HIV, including more than 1 million in the United States. Every year, another 50,000 Americans contract the virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the UK, around 100,000 people were living with HIV in the UK in 2013. That’s around one person in 665. Although highly active antiretroviral therapy (Haart) has controlled HIV-1 for infected people in the developed world over the last 15 years, the virus can rage again with any interruption in treatment.

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'The low level replication of HIV-1 makes patients more likely to suffer from diseases usually associated with ageing,' Dr Khalili said.

These include cardiomyopathy – a weakening of the heart muscle – bone disease, kidney disease, and neurocognitive disorders.

'These problems are often exacerbated by the toxic drugs that must be taken to control the virus,' Dr Khalili added.

Researchers based the two-part HIV-1 editor on a system that evolved as a bacterial defence mechanism to protect against infection. Dr. Khalili's lab engineered a 20-nucleotide strand of gRNA to target the HIV-1 DNA and paired it with a DNA-sniping enzyme called Cas9 and used to edit the human genome.

'We are working on a number of strategies so we can take the construct into preclinical studies,' Dr Khalili said. 'We want to eradicate every single copy of HIV-1 from the patient. That will cure AIDS. I think this technology is the way we can do it.'

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This information can be found here: guff.com/glt-scientists-delete-hiv/20

Originally published in Daily Mail by Ellie Zolfagharifard.

Functional HIV Cure Step Closer To Reality With FDA Approval Of Clinical Human Trials

The recent FDA approval was a major step toward the eventual goal of curing HIV. Photo courtesy of Shutter stock

A possible “functional cure” for HIV has recently been granted FDA approval for further human testing. The method uses genetic modification to cause a specific mutation in the white blood cells of HIV patients which mirrors those found in the naturally immune. It has so far shown to be both receptive and long-lasting.

The novel therapy involves taking stem cells from HIV-infected patients and using a gene editing tool to cause them to form into white blood cells with a specific mutation. The mutation affects a protein known as CCR5, and interferes with the virus’s ability to latch onto blood cells. The mutation occurs naturally in a small percentage of the world’s population and gives these individuals a life-long resistance to HIV infections. Although the virus may remain in their body, without being able to enter the T cells, it cannot replicateand therefore will stay at low numbers, uncompromising the immune system.

In theory, when these genetically edited stem cells are reintroduced into HIV patients they will repopulate the body with cells possessing the same mutation. This would give the patients the same lifetime resistance to the virus’s harm with just one procedure. The method was developed by Sangamo BioSciences Inc., but has also been tested in early human clinical trials by drug research company Calimmune, San Francisco Business Timesreported.

According to IFL Science, in a small trial consisting of only 12 patients the procedure was found to be tolerable and have a low risk of adverse side effects. The genetically modified cells lasted up to four years inside the patients. Unfortunately, the trial was not large enough to test the effectiveness of the procedure, but the current FDA approval will allow the testing to be extended to treat more HIV patients. The FDA has also approved the start of a new Phase I safety study, which would consist of a multi-year, three-stage process of human trials to test a similar approach using a different method of disabling the CCR5 protein.

As reported by the SF Business Times, the trials will be conducted at the City of Hope medical center in California and is being funded by CIRM, the state’s stem cell research funding agency. It will be run by researchers from Sangamo BioSciences Inc. and the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. They will include people with HIV/AIDS who have had poor responses to standard therapies.

“This kind of work is too important to just try one method at a time and sit back and wait to see if it is effective,” explained Dr. Jonathan Thomas, chair of the CIRM governing board,Imperial Valley News reported. “We have a mission to find treatments for patients in need. By trying several different approaches, taking several shots at goal at the same time if you like, we feel we have a better chance of being successful.”

The procedure hopes to replicate what occurred in the Berlin Patient, the only person to ever be “cured” of HIV. If proven to be as effective in the trials as it is on paper, the procedure may become the world’s first “functional cure” for HIV and AIDS.

Read more articles here: http://www.medicaldaily.com/functional-hiv-cure-step-closer-reality-fda-approval-clinical-human-trials-325048

HIV-blocking drug Truvada could end AIDS on Earth — So why is it so controversial?

The prescription medication Truvada — a combination of the drugs Emtricitabine and Tenofovir — can prevent HIV infection if taken orally every day. Some in the AIDS-fighting community are heralding the medication as the best possible tool for ending the AIDS pandemic forever, while others are warning that it could spawn a previously unimaginable public health crisis.

In the short AJ-Plus documentary embedded below, LGBT rights activist Dan Savage, AIDS Healthcare Foundation head Michael Weinstein, San Francisco City Supervisor Scott Wiener and others discuss the heated debate currently raging, even as young gay men and people in the developing world are racking up new HIV infections every day.

Truvada was originally used to manage active HIV infections and keep the virus from manifesting as full-blown AIDS. It’s an expensive regimen, costing tens of thousands of dollars per year for some users. However, health insurance now covers Truvada and subsidies are available.

“Had this pill come along when everyone was still dropping dead,” said Savage, “then, yeah, people would have still lined up.” The drug’s widespread adoption as a prevention measure, he said, is lagging because of the longer lifespans of HIV patients and decreased visibility of AIDS deaths.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Weinstein says that it’s statistically impossible that people will use the medicine as directed. Condom use, he said, is much more effective at preventing the spread of HIV. Condoms also prevent the spread of other STDs, which are expected to rise — and are rising — as condom use decreases and Truvada use increases.

Weiner, who is openly gay and who takes Truvada, pointed out, “For 30 years, we have pushed and pushed people to use condoms and it has not gotten us to the end of this epidemic. And when we have a powerful prevention tool like PrEP, why would we possibly walk away from that?”

PrEP is Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, when HIV-negative people take Truvada on a daily basis to prevent infection.

Weinstein — who has gone on record calling Truvada a “party drug” that will lead to reckless behavior — argues that people will skip doses or otherwise fail to maintain the regimen, but still believe that they are protected, leading to a sharp increase in the number of new infections.

Watch the video, embedded below:

Story found here: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/hiv-blocking-drug-truvada-could-end-aids-on-earth-so-why-is-it-so-controversial/

BREAKTHROUGH: Scientists Discover a Vaccine for Herpes

Human trials are still a few years away, but the unconventional methods the researchers used to create immunity in mice could hold key to HIV and TB vaccines as well.

Scientists have developed a new, counterintuitive vaccine to prevent the spread of herpes – the most common sexually transmitted infection with over 500 million suffers. Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University published their findings of experiments conducted on lab mice in eLife.

“Developing a herpes vaccine is one of the holy grails of infectious disease research,” said Dr. William Jacobs, Jr., co-study leader.

The scientists were able to create the vaccine by taking a new approach to vaccine development. It had been assumed that the way to fight the virus was to stimulate production of neutralizing antibodies against a specific viral surface protein (glycoprotein-2) the herpes simplex virus-2 (genital herpes) uses invade cells. Researchers spent decades trying to stimulate antigens against gD-2 – but these versions of the vaccine were unable to prevent infection.

“We decided to take an approach that runs counter to most of the tactics used by other scientists – and we seem to have cracked the code,” said Dr. Jacobs. This, according to Dr. Betsy Harold co-study leader, suggested that previous vaccine strategies were stimulating the wrong antibodies.

Instead the Einstein group used genetic manipulation to remove the gD-2 gene from HSV-2 DNA to design a live vaccine. This weakened the virus and made it unable to infect cells in lab mice that were given the live vaccine.

The vaccinated mice showed low levels of neutralizing antibodies but high levels antibodies associated with a different immune response called antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). A blood serum from these vaccinated mice was then used in other mice who showed signs of passive protection against HSV-2, showing that ADCC protects against HSV-2.  

“We had a hunch that gD-2 might be masking other viral antigens,” said Dr. Jacobs. “And that by removing this dominant protein we would expose those previously masked antigens to the immune system.”

Tests also suggest that the virus offers some protection against HSV-1 (oral herpes) but further testing is needed. The vaccine design also opens up possibilities for other vaccines against viruses, including HIV and tuberculosis.

“Genital herpes infections can not only be seriously in and of themselves, but they also play a major role in fueling the HIV epidemic,” said Dr. Herold, who explained that people infected with HSV-2 are more likely to get and transmit HIV.

The team hopes to begin human trials in the next few years. 

More articles here: http://www.hivplusmag.com/prevention/2015/03/10/breakthrough-scientists-discover-vaccine-herpes?team=social

My Continued Journey with TRIUMEQ

Today, 03-03-2015, I have my results since switching from Atripla to Triumeq.

I began taking Triumeq 6 months ago and could not be happier!

For the first 5 years being HIV Positive I was taking Atripla with all the horrible side effects that I was told would go away after a couple of months.

Today I can proudly say that I have not had any side effects since quitting ATRIPLA and taking TRIUMEQ!! I do have to say however, I have gained over 30 pounds since starting the TRIUMEQ!!! I have gone over all my medications and how I cook my food and we were able to figure out from "Other Side Effects" not easy to find, but the research is there, that some people actually do gain a lot of weight!!! In the process of switching medications once again. Will have more on that later.

Praise GOD there is a drug that is keeping the HIV under control without major side effects.

I am happy to report that my CD4 count is higher than it ever has been and I am still UNDETECTABLE!!! I now only have to visit my IDI Doctor every 6 months....

Here is my latest test results for all to see:

Now all we need to do is get all the other things under control and I will be a NEW MAN!!!

For NOW I just want to say THANK GOD for TRIUMEQ!! TRIUMEQ ROCKS!!!