It's been more than 25 years since scientists discovered HIV, the retrovirus responsible for causing AIDS. Since then, there have been advances in treatment that help slow the spread of the virus,
promising leads toward stopping it entirely, but still no cure. Now, out of Loyola University, a potential breakthrough: Researchers have figured out the "key components" of TRIM5-alpha, a natural protein that "gangs up" and destroys the virus in rhesus monkeys.
"The finding could lead to new TRIM5a-based treatments that would knock out HIV in humans," senior researcher Edward M. Campbell, PhD, of Loyola University Health System
said in a press release.
The results of the research are described in full in the Sept. 15 issue of
Virology and have also been posted online. (Subscription required.) Six years ago,
researchers at Harvard first identified the protective power of TRIM5a in monkeys, noting that it is 87 percent identical to a variant of the protein found in humans.
