Discovery of the "hiding" location of HIV virus in human cells

Italian scientists announced on March 3 that they had discovered the "hiding place" of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in cells, promising to create an important breakthrough in the search for new therapies to effectively treat this disease of the century.

Researchers at the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in Italy say they have captured the structure of "lymponucleic" white blood cells using high-resolution microscopy techniques.

Illustration photo. (Source: kurir.rs)

From this specialized cell structure of the immune system, they found the mechanism of HIV causing AIDS. They discovered that HIV has the property of inserting its own DNA into the cells it infects, thereby quickly becoming part of the genetic structure of these cells, which has been known for some time.

Since the early 2000s, scientists have compiled data on thousands of human DNA sequences containing HIV "integrations," but in the past 15 years, no one has discovered anything in common between them, said Mauro Giacca, director general of ICGEB.

He emphasized that his team found a common feature in the DNA structure of HIV-infected cells, namely in the outer shell of the cell nucleus that closely corresponds to the nuclear pore (on the cell membrane). This area contains a series of cellular genes characterized by factors that help hide the presence of the HIV virus.

In contrast, HIV is "strongly antagonistic" to regions in the nuclear lamin-associated domains and other regions located centrally in the nucleus.

This breakthrough discovery by scientists has shown the structure of the nucleus of lymphocytes and the areas where the HIV virus can choose to "hide," avoiding "destruction" by treatment drugs.

The new discovery has now been published in the prestigious Nature magazine (UK), opening up hope for the medical community in developing new AIDS treatment drugs, through a mechanism that prevents HIV from entering areas that are easy to hide in the cell nucleus.

However, Mr. Giacca admitted that the research team has not yet been able to discover how the virus can successfully "hide" from treatment drugs inside these genes and until now, this mechanism remains a mystery in the medical research process of HIV virus.

According to UN data, since 1981, about 80 million people worldwide have been infected with HIV causing AIDS, of which about 39 million have died, while not a single patient has been completely cured./.

According to Vietnam+