Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - 24 Nov 1995
A team of Oxford scientists uncovered the HIV virus' escape act while studying the immune response of four patients, and reported their findings in Friday's edition of the journal Science.
Normally, the body's killer immune cells, called cytotoxic T lymphocytes or CTLs, sniff out disease and destroy it. They're switched on by the presence of a disease protein, which triggers the CTL to forever recognize the disease and attack it on sight.
In theory, CTLs ought to be able to destoy the AIDS virus, HIV, during early infection. But they don't, primarily because the HIV constantly mutates, changing its appearance so the CTLs have to recognize it all over again before they know to attack.
Now the Oxford team has discovered a second HIV escape mechanism. It can emit a piece of protein that, instead of switching on CTLs, inhibits their ability to kill anything, reported lead author Ute-Christiane Meier of John Radcliffe Hospital.
This protection "might exceed the advantage conferred by simple ... escape," Meier concluded.
Several other viruses perform this trick, but scientists hadn't suspected it was happening in HIV, said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
"What's described here is something even more formidable," he said. But it's too early to say if the finding has any implications for HIV treatment.
Copyright 1995/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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Copyright © 1995 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
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