Hot in the news: Scientists “Cut out” HIV from human cells (Perspective)

A few years ago scientists developed, and patented a technique to edit out (cut out) a specific part of a DNA. Researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia, have recently modified this method to cut out HIV DNA from HIV-infected human cells grown in the Lab. This is a significant achievement because HIV lodges it's DNA into human cells, making it almost impossible to get rid of. Now, it is possible to cut it out!

The results point toward this exciting method as a promising way of eradicating HIV from persons living with HIV. Yet there is still a way to go for several reasons:

1. The gene editing method called CRISPR/Cas9 (like a scissor), requires that Scientists design this scissor based on the type of HIV the person is living with. There are many different types of the virus, which is one reason why a vaccine is so difficult to
develop against this virus

2. This will be a very expensive and personalized method, and at best only about 1% of persons living with HIV may be able to afford it

3. This method is developed to cut out HIV from a type of immune cells called CD4, which are the main targets for HIV. However, HIV lives in other cells such as macrophages. For example, macrophages that live in the brain

4. Most likely, this method will only cut out HIV from cells that are circulating in the blood. Most of the HIV hides in sanctuaries in the gut, liver, brain etc. It will be difficult to cut out HIV from cells located in these organs

Notwithstanding, this is a great discovery, because it illustrates that it is possible to clip out HIV from human cells. We just need to develop ways to reach these cells. Even if we are unable to cut out HIV from all cells, we may be able to reduce the overall size of the HIV reservoir! Thus, the amount of hiding virus would be so low that some persons could have long-term remission, off treatment – maybe for a few months or few years, without viral rebound.

This would be welcoming news for persons who have to take daily medication every day for the rest of their lives. Further, this method could be combined with others as a combinatorial strategy toward an HIV cure.

This exciting work also provides an important tool for Scientists in the HIV cure filed to help them to better understand how HIV reservoirs are created.

Source: Kamanski et al, Scientific Report, March 2016