alpha-defensins -1, -2, and -3 what is status of this breakthrough?

[bimazek]

Tuesday, 30 January 2007
Protein-packed HIV breakthrough raises hope
ID   20021005
By   Sapa-AFP,
Summary   Washington - American and Chinese researchers have announced that they have identified a group of proteins that naturally block HIV from developing into Aids, a discovery that could revolutionise HIV treatment.

A team of US and Chinese scientists at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Centre (ADARC) in New York succeeded in identifying the proteins, alpha-defensins -1, -2, and -3, found in a small percentage of HIV-positive people known as long-term non-progressors.

This group, who account for one to two percent of all HIV-positive people in the US, live with HIV without developing Aids.

The discovery, the details of which are to published in Friday's edition of Science magazine, follows a lead that was discovered in 1986.

Scientists then discovered that the human body's CD8 T cells produced some unidentifiable factors that inhibited HIV replication.

Then, in 1995, researchers found a family of proteins called beta-chemokines that accounted for some of the HIV suppression, but were not effective against all the strains of the virus.
The ADARC team compared the CD8 T cells in long-term non-progressors with the same cells in HIV patients whose immune systems had failed.

They found alpha-defensins -1, -2, and -3 in people who stayed healthy and a lack of these proteins in those whose immune systems had failed. The proteins suppressed all strands of HIV.

To confirm that these three proteins were responsible for controlling the virus, the team artificially stripped the alpha-defensins from the proteins produced by CD8 T cells taken from long-term non-progressors and found that their HIV-blocking capabilities had been virtually eliminated.

To better judge the potency of the alpha-defensins, researchers compared synthesised versions of the proteins made in laboratories with a purified version derived from human cells.

The natural form was at least 10 to 20 times stronger than the synthetic version. ADARC researchers are working to improve the potency of the synthetic form. (Source: Sapa-AFP, September 26 2002)
Story   

Washington - American and Chinese researchers have announced that they have identified a group of proteins that naturally block HIV from developing into Aids, a discovery that could revolutionise
HIV treatment.

A team of US and Chinese scientists at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Centre (ADARC) in New York succeeded in identifying the proteins, alpha-defensins -1, -2, and -3, found in a small percentage of HIV-positive people known as long-term
non-progressors.

This group, who account for one to two percent of all HIV-positive people in the US, live with HIV without developing
AIDS.

"This discovery is a major step forward in our understanding of how the body fights HIV," said Linqi Zhang, head of the team. "By understanding how some people's immune systems control HIV infection, we may be able to develop new treatments that take advantage of this phenomenon."

The discovery, the details of which are to published in Friday's edition of Science magazine, follows a lead that was discovered in 1986.

Scientists then discovered that the human body's CD8 T cells produced some unidentifiable factors that inhibited HIV replication.

Then, in 1995, researchers found a family of proteins called beta-chemokines that accounted for some of the HIV suppression, but were not effective against all the strains of the virus.

The ADARC team compared the CD8 T cells in long-term non-progressors with the same cells in HIV patients whose immune systems had failed.

They found alpha-defensins -1, -2, and -3 in people who stayed healthy and a lack of these proteins in those whose immune systems had failed. The proteins suppressed all strands of HIV.

To confirm that these three proteins were responsible for controlling the virus, the team artificially stripped the alpha-defensins from the proteins produced by CD8 T cells taken from long-term non-progressors and found that their HIV-blocking capabilities had been virtually eliminated.

To better judge the potency of the alpha-defensins, researchers compared synthesised versions of the proteins made in laboratories with a purified version derived from human cells.

The natural form was at least 10 to 20 times stronger than the synthetic version.
ADARC researchers are working to improve the potency of the synthetic form.
(Source: Sapa-AFP,  September 26 2002)

[Optimistic]

I don't know the status of this breakthrough, but this is certainly excellent news.  Let's hope something promsing will come out of this study.

Justin