One of the main difficulties in the fight against HIV remains its ability to hide in certain white blood cells, forming the so -called virus reservoir – it can be activated again, eluding both drugs and the immune system. Now researchers from the Institute of Infections and Immunity of the named after Peter Dortort in Melbourne have developed a method that allows you to make the virus noticeable, which can become the key to its complete removal from the body. The MRNA technology is based-the same as used in creating vaccines from Covid-19 by Moderna and Pfizer/Biontech.
In the article published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists first showed that MRNA can be delivered to the cells where HIV is hidden using specially created microscopic fat capsules. This MRNA “instructs” cells to recognize the virus. The team has developed a new type of lipid nanoparticles called LNP X, which effectively penetrates such cells. According to researchers, this innovative technology can be a new step towards HIV treatment.
The work is based on laboratory experiments with cells taken from patients with HIV. In order to turn this technology into full treatment, it will take a lot of time: first successful experiments on animals, then security tests in public, which will probably take several years before checking the effectiveness. Dr. Michael Rosh from the University of Melbourne, one of the leading authors of the study, noted that this discovery may have a wider value that goes beyond HIV, since the same white blood cells are involved in the development of other diseases, including cancer.
