Discoveries
Monkeys' protein could yield AIDS strategy
In solving a puzzle about the AIDS virus, Dana-Farber scientists may have discovered a new weapon against the disease.
Lymphocyte with HIV cluster
Monkeys develop AIDS when infected by the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), but not when exposed to the human virus (HIV-1). The reason, it turns out, is that monkeys have a natural protein that recognizes the genetic core of HIV-1 when it enters their cells and blocks it from reaching the nucleus.
Joseph Sodroski, MD, and graduate student Matthew Stremlau recently reported the identification of the virus blocker, TRIM5-alpha. This monkey protein, they say, is the first evidence of a previously unknown part of the immune system operating inside the cell.
A similar virus blocker exists in humans, the scientists state, but doesn't work as well as the monkey form. Nevertheless, molecular tinkering may someday increase the effectiveness of human TRIM5-alpha in protecting people against the virus, they said. Alternatively, humans might be able to take the monkey version to prevent infection.
