AIDS retrovirus research

Research into the chemistry of template-dependent nucleic acid biosynthesis, combined with modern techniques of molecular biology, has elucidated the life cycle and structure of the human immunodeficiency virus, the retrovirus that causes AIDS. A few years after the isolation of HIV, this research resulted in the development of drugs capable of prolonging the lives of people infected by HIV. 

Vandamme, A.-M., Debyser, Z., Pauwels, R., De Vreese, K., Goubau, P., Youle, M., Gazzard, B Stoffels, A., Cauwenbergh, G. F Ann6, J., Andries, K., Janssen, P. A. J., Desmyter, J., and De Clercq, E. (1994) Characterization of HIV-1 strains isolated from patients treated with TIBO R82913. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses 10, 39-45. 

Since 1980 three types of infectious human T-cell lymphotrophic viruses (HTLVs) have been identified. HTLV-I is frequently associated with adult forms of T-cell leukemia-lymphoma, HTLV-II with hairy T-cell leukemia, and HTLV-III (now called human immunodeficiency virus HIV) with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Other related retroviruses have been isolated from human and primate populations. Molecular biologists have developed a wealth of information about the biology and genetics of retroviruses, including the complete sequencing of their genomes. Despite this enormous research effort it still... 

In a chapter Infection Unmasked, Drexler first underscores the point that some 70% of all deaths are due to lingering or chronic illnesses rather than to the abrupt severity of acute afflictions. Furthermore, there is the statement that today, a growing number of researchers claim that these disabling conditions may be caused by infection. Thus, more than 90% of cervical cancer cases are caused by the human papillomavirus, and more than 60% of liver cancer cases result from the hepatitis B virus. The retrovirus HTLV-1 is the precursor for adult T cell lymphoma, with the cancerous condition occurring decades after the infection. The Epstein-Barr virus, a herpes-type virus causing mononucleosis, also has an effect on people with malaria, producing a cancer known as Burkitt s lymphoma, the leading cause of childhood cancer deaths worldwide. Kaposi s sarcoma, known as a comphcation of AIDS, is said to be caused by human herpesvirus 8. 

The most daunting claim to fame for a human retrovirus came in the early 1980s, when teams of researchers in France and the United States jointly identified human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) as the etiologic agent in the human acquired immunodeficiency syndrome called AIDS. HIV infection of human T cells eventually results in T-cell death and loss of these important cells from the immune system. AIDS patients with extremely low numbers of T cells are highly susceptible to opportunistic infectious diseases, which are often the underlying cause of death due to AIDS. 

Buschenfelde, Y. Kuchino and S. Nishimura, Aids Research and Human Retroviruses, 4, 279 (1988). 

Retroviruses are the subject of extensive research in virology these days for several reasons. The first is that retroviruses have been linked to cancer, and more aspects of the relationship between viruses and cancer are discovered every day. The second is that human immimodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus. HIV is the causative agent of the disease acquired immimodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The search for AIDS treatments and a definitive cure remains one of the primary goals of retroviral research. HIV will be covered more extensively in the Hot Topics Magazine. The third is that retroviruses can be used in gene therapy, as described in the following Biochemical Connections box. 

One of the biggest problems with HIV is eradicating it from cells once they are infected. As a retrovirus, HIV incorporates itself into the DNA of its infected host. The immune system often attacks virus-infected cells, but such an immunological strategy is ineffective in curing AIDS because the attack would neutralize the very T cells whose destruction is the trademark ofthevirus. In June 2007, researchers attempted a novel approach to the problem. They created a novel enzyme that would cause an infected cell to excise the HIV genome from the host... 

Moriuchi, M., Moriuchi, H., and Fauci, A.S. (1999) HTLV type 1 Tax activation of the CXCR4 promoter by association with nuclear respiratory factor 1. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 15, 821-827. 

Moore, J.P., Kitchen, S.G., Pugach, P., and Zack, J.A. (2004) The CCR5 and CXCR4 coreceptors-central to understanding the transmission and pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 20, 111-126. 

McClure, MO Moore, JP Blanc, DF Scotting, P Cook, GM Keynes, RJ Weber, J N Davies, D Weiss, RA. Investigations into the mechankm by which sulfated polysaccharides inhibit HIV infection in vitro. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 1992, 8, 19-26. 

OWENS RJ, TANNER CC, MULOGAN MJ, SRESnVAS RV, COMPAS RW. Oligopeptide inhibitors of HIV-induced syncytium formation. AIDS Research Human Retroviruses 1990 6 1289-96. 

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