U. study examines AIDS

Nearly every graduate of eighth grade health class could explain how people contract HIV. But even the world's leading AIDS researchers cannot detail the exact biological process that takes place when HIV infects a cell -- though new research by Pathology Professor Robert Doms may provide some answers. In July's issue of the medical journal Cell, Doms and his Medical School colleagues, along with a team from Harvard University, detail a series of proteins on the surface of white blood cells that let HIV enter the cell. Past research had already identified some proteins involved in HIV infection, but the new findings show three more may be necessary. The newly discovered proteins are called CKR2b, CKR3 and CKR5. The breakthrough, along with other recent AIDS research, may eventually provide ammunition in searching for new methods to prevent the spread of HIV. "Discovery of these proteins opens up whole new ways of trying to prevent HIV infection by blocking the virus from getting into the cell in the first place," Doms said in a statement. The report may also help explain why some people never contract HIV despite frequent exposure to the virus -- the new discovery means the infection process is more complicated than scientists thought. A protein called CD4 has been known for years to be involved in HIV infection. Another, called fusin, was identified last month by federal government researchers. Fusin is used by the strains of HIV associated with late-stage infection. The proteins Doms's team identified are associated with all stages of infection and shed light on how the virus is transmitted from one person to another. Since HIV was identified 12 years ago, AIDS researchers have been trying to explain how the virus invades the white blood cells -- the body's infection fighters.

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