Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 8 August 1996
"Tests performed by the scientists suggest that, due to this genetic variation, this subset of the population is protected from infection by the virus that causes AIDS," the university said in a release.
The findings will appear in the Aug. 22 issue of the medical journal Nature, it said.
The research expands on earlier findings that a "receptor" molecule on the surface of the cell must be present to allow a strain of HIV-1 to infect cells.
This strain, known as M-Tropic viruses, is involved in the earliest stages of infection by HIV, which causes AIDS. Another strain, known as T-Tropic, is involved in the later development of full-blown AIDS.
The genetic mutation discovered by the researchers effectively disables the receptors used to infect cells. The subjects studied had received copies of the mutant gene from each of their parents.
"We found that cells from these people are completely resistant to infection by M-Tropic viruses, though they can be infected by T-Tropic viruses," said Dr. Robert Doms, a Penn assistant professor of a pathology and laboratory medicine.
The mutation was not found in blacks from Central Africa or in Japanese in the study.
The researchers also were studying whether people with only one copy of the mutant gene derived some HIV resistance from it, Doms said.
He said in the release that people with the mutation appeared to have no medical problems related to it, meaning there was a possbility a drug could be designed to mimic its effect in blocking the receptor.
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