Protein could stop HIV 'budding' process

A protein that could inhibit the generation of HIV cells has been investigated by scientists.

Researchers from UCLA have found that key proteins in the body's dendritic cells, DC-SIGN and related protein DC-SIGNR, can stop HIV from 'budding' and eventually replicating to infect other cells.

The study, to be published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology's FASEB Journal in April, showed that DC-SIGN and DC-SIGNR each demonstrated 95 to 99.5 per cent 'inhibition of viral production from host cells'.

The researchers wrote: "The strong inhibition of viral production by DC-SIGN suggests the possibility of using this protein for treatment of HIV-infected patients.

"Expression of this protein in various CD4-positive cells should inhibit viral production from infected cells. Because it can also enhance the immune response, DC-SIGN is expected to be useful for in vivo studies for developing an HIV vaccine."

Last year, scientists from the US National Cancer Institute announced that they had discovered that a drug used by HIV patients might also be able to kill off cancer cells.

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