HIV is probably one of the deadliest diseases today. The retrovirus attacks the immune system, often fatally weakening the body's natural defenses. But macrophages and dendritic cells, which play critical roles in the immune response, seem to be more resistant to the virus than other cells, according to a study published this month in Nature Immunology.
A team of researchers from the Institut Cochin in Paris, New York University School of Medicine and the University of Rochester Medical Center identified the protein SAMHD1 as integral to the body's resistance to the HIV virus. During the HIV infection stage, the virus hijacks the patient's host cells and uses those cells to house its reproduction.
Researchers found SAMHD1 breaks dNTPs, the building blocks of DNA, to a level low enough to prevent the building of viral DNA. This is a process called nucleotide pool depletion.
SAMDH1 prevents the virus from taking control of the patient's cells, which makes it unable to replicate its DNA, stopping the spread of the infection.
HIV researchers are working to develop methods to increase SAMHD1 in cells and reduce dNTPs in cells, but they need to find a way to lower dNTPs without damaging CD4 cells. CD4 cells are a necessary component of the immune response which require dNTPs to multiply.
-compiled by Sasha Gitomirski
Read More
U.Va. students and physicians team up for another year of free kidney screenings
By Merrill Hart | November 5, 2024Saturday’s screening marked the first by KDSAP at Portico Church, near IX Art Park.
U.Va. Health sees a spike in COVID-19 cases
By Emily Horn | September 4, 2023U.Va. Health ended their vaccination requirements in August, and masks were made optional in most hospital areas in early April.
U.Va. Cancer Center harnesses $12 million grant to support opportunities for undergraduates, ongoing research and new center
By Ellen Wu | January 12, 2023The grant provides an opportunity to establish the Center for Systems Analysis of Stress-Adapted Cancer Organelles, which seeks to find the cause of cancer in individual organelles.
