Study shows HIV thrives through 'cooperation'
HIV able to survive through cooperation between weak and strong cells
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Wednesday, 09, Jul 2008 12:02
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is able to survive in the human body through cooperation between weak and strong viral cells.
A new study has found that weaker HIV viruses are able to join with more virulent cells to complete reproduction and affect the development of Aids more effectively than previously thought.
Research carried out by Dr David N Levy, an assistant professor of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology at the NYU College of Dentistry, found a 'community' function with HIV cells, with viruses which have successfully integrated with human DNA rescuing those which were unable to complete integration.
Through the stronger cells' provision of the proteins needed for reproduction, the 'lost' viruses are able to skip several steps in their replication cycle and reproduce faster, the research published in BioMed Central's open access journal, Retrovirology, shows.
"Cooperation between different viruses is yet another one of the many tricks that HIV uses to survive, and raises the possibility that there are more active viruses in the body than was previously thought," Dr Levy explained.
"Understanding how viruses interact with each other is a key to understanding how HIV evolves and survives the body's immune responses, which we hope could ultimately lead to the development of new ways to treat HIV infection."