Australian scientists make significant HIV discovery 1 October 2010 Australian scientists have made a significant discovery in the battle against HIV, which could lead to a possible cure. The scientists – from Monash University, the Burnet Institute and The Alfred Hospital, all in Melbourne, and the Westmead Millennium Institute in Sydney – have been working collaboratively on this research along with colleagues at the University of Montreal in Canada. Their findings have just been published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States. The scientists have identified how the HIV virus can enter resting cells – the main cell that persists in patients who are being given anti-HIV treatment. Monash University Professor Sharon Lewin, Co-Head of the Burnet Institute's Centre for Virology and Director of The Alfred's Infectious Diseases Unit, said that one of the major barriers in curing HIV has been the mystery of how resting cells are infected and how the HIV virus can lie hidden for years in these cells, despite prolonged treatment with anti-HIV drugs. “Our team of researchers has now identified the path by which the virus can infect resting CD4-T cells and establish latency,” Professor Lewin said. Latency is the ability of HIV to integrate its genetic material into the genome of resting memory CD4-T-cells where it remains dormant but able to reactivate at some point causing the virus to start replicating. Professor Brendan Crabb, Director of the Burnet Institute, said that the discovery was a long time coming and heralded the beginning of a new chapter in the fight against HIV and AIDS. “We have been working on HIV for close to thirty years and it’s really only now that we’re beginning to see that a cure for HIV might be achievable and needs to be a major scientific priority,” Professor Crabb said. More information |