PD-1 HIV reservoir may be involved new study starting in Canada Amfar

[bimazek]

PD-1 study of HIV reservoir PD-1  may be involved new study starting in Canada Amfar

New AmfAR Research Grants HIV Treatment

this is the a major researcher in canada,  now good news pd-1 may be involved with reservior!   i am really blown away by this news... i mean who would have thought that pd-1 would be suspected or have anything to do with HIV-1 reservoir.  But this is one of the top people in field so they must have some amazing clues.. gives me hope... and i cannot believe that PD-1 is turning up associated with the viral reservoir.

New AmfAR Research Grants HIV Treatment

Elias Haddad, Ph.D.
Universite de Montreal, Quebec, Canada
$107,568

Impact of PD-1 on the establishment and maintenance of the HIV-1 reservoir: The PD-1 molecule has recently been shown to be associated with the reduced ability of certain immune cells to survive and proliferate during HIV infection. Dr. Haddad will test the hypothesis that PD-1, which is present in increased amounts in immune cells specialized to fight HIV, is also involved in the establishment and/or maintenance of the HIV reservoir. This reservoir contains HIV that is resistant to both antiretroviral therapy as well as the immune system's efforts to destroy it, and so constitutes the major barrier to curing HIV infection. Discovering the role of PD-1 in establishing and maintaining the reservoir may lead to new therapies designed to eradicate the virus from the body.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=75017

i like this phrase...
new therapies designed to eradicate the virus from the body.





also interesting......  seems that maraviroc stops the immune system from getting over revved up in hiv disease...
Nancy Shulman, M.D.
Stanford University and Palo Alto VA Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA
$107,644
Immunologic benefits of CCR5 inhibitor intensification: The new antiretroviral maraviroc works by blocking the cell surface protein CCR5 and thus preventing the virus from entering cells. Dr. Shulman postulates that the drug might also prevent disease by reducing the activation state of the immune system. Immune activation has been implicated in promoting HIV disease - if maraviroc can decrease HIV disease both by blocking HIV entry into cells as well as by decreasing immune activation, this could have implications for using maraviroc even in patients who might otherwise seem to be unsuitable candidates for the drug.

[Central79]

That's interesting - a therapy designed to target PD-1 would kill two birds with one stone.

1. The preservation of HIV specific immune responses.
2. The reduction in viral reservoir.

I'm sure that (1) is probably more complicated that PD-1 alone, but anything that moves us down the line in terms of eradication - understanding the viral reservoir and eliminating it is a big step forwards. It'll be interesting to see where this goes.

M.

[NYCguy]

I wonder if Sangamo's gene-therapy designed to permanently elminate CCR5 receptors, mimicing a small percentage of the populations natural mutation, would have the same effect as maraviroc in terms of the avoidance of over-stiumulation of the immune system?