Further Step For The Development Of AIDS Vaccine

Scientists from Vienna have discovered another aspect to how the HI-Virus defends itself against attacks from the human body’s immune system. Scientists from the Institute for Applied Microbiology at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (Boku) in Vienna, have published details on how the virus mirrors body cells.

Hermann Katinger and his colleagues wrote in the magazine “Science” how they have analyzed the mantle of the virus and believe they have discovered how the virus mimics the mantel of healthy human body cells.

Also, the scientists have discovered four antibodies that attack different types of HI-Virus. Scientist Gabriela Stiegler says three of the antibodies were discovered by the Boku, two of them – 2F5 and 4E10 – are now being tested and analysed. If their theory is correct, the antibodies will be forced to dock onto the Virus and prevent the agent from infiltrating healthy cells. This will force them to produce further virus-material.

HI-V antibodies are rare, and usually only found in AIDS-patients who are found to be coping with HIV infection and who have a comparatively high life expectancy.

Laboratories worldwide are moving to produce antibodies within cell cultures in the hope of developing a vaccine for HI-Virus.

Put simply, this breakthrough discovered how the virus camouflages itself by mirroring. The structure on the surface of the virus on which the antibodies dock is similar to a normal human body cell. “The body struggles to fight something, which is so similar to its own cells”, explains Stiegler.

Current tests show that the antibody binding has virtually no side effects for the patient. The antibodies could eventually be administered to help AIDS-patients but will also bolster research into developing a vaccine for HI-Virus.

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