"Gene scissors" cure AIDS: humans are expected to completely remove the virus for the first time, pending clinical verification
Scientists in Hamburg, Germany, are using new gene and cell therapies to fight AIDS. With the support of Hamburg-based biotechnology startup Provirex, researchers are developing a new therapy based on "gene scissors" to "cut out" the original virus of HIV from the genome of infected cells and eliminate the virus . If it can be clinically successful, this will be the first time in human history that the HIV virus has been completely removed from the body, and the previous treatment of AIDS only inhibited the replication and reproduction of the virus.
According to recent news from the Max Planck Institute (Max Planck Institute), the basic concept of the therapy comes from three German research institutions, namely the Heinrich Petter Institute (HPI) , Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Max Planck Institute and Dresden University of Technology. They jointly developed and optimized "gene scissors": designed a recombinant enzyme called Brec1. Brec1 recombinase can identify clinically common HIV strains, and can safely and accurately "cut out" the integrated provirus in the genome of infected cells. The so-called provirus refers to the potential viral genome existing in the host chromosome.
HPI and the Hamburg Ependorf Medical Center (UKE) are collaborating on this method for clinical trials. First, the stem cell transplant department of UKE will evaluate the stem cell treatment of 8 HIV patients. ForTra gGmbH für Forschungstransfer, a subsidiary of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Hamburg Senate, and the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS), has invested funds and resources for this purpose.
Katharina Fegebank, the German senator and former mayor of Hamburg, said, "Provirex, Hamburg's startup, can make a decisive contribution to the fight against HIV. This new treatment is expected to make patients' cells Permanently get rid of HIV infection. "
"This may be a milestone in the fight against AIDS," said Joachim Hauber, a researcher at the Heinrich Petter Institute. "I'm very happy that we now have the opportunity to develop this new based on our own research results on the UKE campus in Hamburg Therapy. "
HIV, like other retroviruses, integrates its genetic material into the human host genome when it multiplies. Although current antiretroviral therapy can effectively inhibit the reproduction of HIV, it cannot eradicate such integrated viruses. Therefore, the virus can sleep dormantly during treatment, and once the treatment is stopped, it can start to replicate again.
Researchers in Hamburg, Germany, used an important tool for protein engineering, the "molecular directed evolution" method, to develop a recombinant enzyme called Brec1. Previously, they had conducted cell experiments and experimental mouse experiments. Tests show that this recombinant enzyme can locate and identify more than 90% of the clinically common HIV strains, and can safely and accurately "cut out" the integrated provirus in the genome of infected cells.
The so-called provirus refers to the potential viral genome existing in the host chromosome. The international authoritative academic journal "Natural Biotechnology" (NBT) published the research results in 2016, showing that this method will not destroy the function of host cells and normal genes. After the original virus is cleared, the immune system that has failed due to interference with the genetic material of HIV is expected to return to normal.
Surging news reporter He Liping