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Reuters Health
08/28/2001
By Merritt McKinney
NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters Health) - Two proteins produced by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, help the virus replicate by activating immune system cells called T-cells, researchers report.
One of HIV's tricks is that it sneaks its genetic material into the body's cells, which causes these cells to produce the virus's proteins. T-cells are one of HIV's primary targets, but researchers have not fully understood how the virus carries out the process of inserting its genetic material into cells, known as transcription.
For transcription to occur in T-cells, these immune-system cells have to be activated. If too many T-cells are activated at once, the body can go into toxic shock syndrome, so under normal circumstances, most T-cells are at rest, or quiescent.
Drs. Yuntao Wu and Jon W. Marsh, of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, have found that HIV's proteins prepare the way for T-cell activation very soon after infection. Their findings are published the August 24th issue of Science.
They report that the transcription of two proteins into T-cells occurs even when T-cells are not activated. Once this transcription occurs, the proteins, known as Nef and Tat, encourage the activation of T-cells. This makes it easier for the virus to replicate.
When the researchers infected T-cells with a strain of HIV that lacked Nef, the activation of T-cells was greatly diminished.
"I don't believe any veteran AIDS researcher ever underestimates HIV, but relative novices, such as Dr. Wu and myself, remain considerably amazed at the complexity of this virus," Marsh told Reuters Health in an interview. "Of course, it must mirror the complexity of the human cells it is infecting."
SOURCE: Science 2001;293:1503-1506
08/28/2001
By Merritt McKinney
NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters Health) - Two proteins produced by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, help the virus replicate by activating immune system cells called T-cells, researchers report.
One of HIV's tricks is that it sneaks its genetic material into the body's cells, which causes these cells to produce the virus's proteins. T-cells are one of HIV's primary targets, but researchers have not fully understood how the virus carries out the process of inserting its genetic material into cells, known as transcription.
For transcription to occur in T-cells, these immune-system cells have to be activated. If too many T-cells are activated at once, the body can go into toxic shock syndrome, so under normal circumstances, most T-cells are at rest, or quiescent.
Drs. Yuntao Wu and Jon W. Marsh, of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, have found that HIV's proteins prepare the way for T-cell activation very soon after infection. Their findings are published the August 24th issue of Science.
They report that the transcription of two proteins into T-cells occurs even when T-cells are not activated. Once this transcription occurs, the proteins, known as Nef and Tat, encourage the activation of T-cells. This makes it easier for the virus to replicate.
When the researchers infected T-cells with a strain of HIV that lacked Nef, the activation of T-cells was greatly diminished.
"I don't believe any veteran AIDS researcher ever underestimates HIV, but relative novices, such as Dr. Wu and myself, remain considerably amazed at the complexity of this virus," Marsh told Reuters Health in an interview. "Of course, it must mirror the complexity of the human cells it is infecting."
SOURCE: Science 2001;293:1503-1506
