Stem cells can be engineered to kill HIV

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Dear Sir/Madam,

Updated on Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Washington: For the first time, researchers have been successful in

demonstrating that human blood stem cells can be engineered into cells

that can target and kill HIV-infected cells - a process that

potentially could be used against a range of chronic viral diseases.

The study by scientists at the UCLA AIDS Institute and colleagues has

been published in the-peer reviewed online journal PLoS ONE. The

research provides proof-of-principle - that is, a demonstration of

feasibility - that human stem cells can be engineered into the

equivalent of a genetic vaccine.

" We have demonstrated in this proof-of-principle study that this type

of approach can be used to engineer the human immune system,

particularly the T-cell response, to specifically target HIV-infected

cells, " said lead investigator G. Kitchen, assistant professor

of medicine in the division of hematology and oncology at the

Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a member of the UCLA AIDS

Institute.

" These studies lay the foundation for further therapeutic development

that involves restoring damaged or defective immune responses toward a

variety of viruses that cause chronic disease, or even different types

of tumors, " the expert added.

Taking CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes - the " killer " T cells that help

fight infection - from an HIV-infected individual, the researchers

identified the molecule known as the T-cell receptor, which guides the

T cell in recognizing and killing HIV-infected cells.

These cells, while able to destroy HIV-infected cells, do not exist in

enough quantities to clear the virus from the body. So the researchers

cloned the receptor and genetically engineered human blood stem cells,

then placed the stem cells into human thymus tissue that had been

implanted in mice, allowing them to study the reaction in a living

organism.

The engineered stem cells developed into a large population of mature,

multifunctional HIV-specific CD8 cells that could specifically target

cells containing HIV proteins. The researchers also found that

HIV-specific T-cell receptors have to be matched to an individual in

much the same way that an organ is matched to a transplant patient.

The next step is to test this strategy in a more advanced model to

determine if it would work in the human body, said co-author Jerome A.

Zack, UCLA professor of medicine in the division of hematology and

oncology and associate director of the UCLA AIDS Institute.

But the results of the study suggest that this strategy could be an

effective weapon in the fight against AIDS and other viral diseases.

" This approach could be used to combat a variety of chronic viral

diseases, " said Zack, who is also a professor of microbiology,

immunology and molecular genetics. " It''s like a genetic vaccine. "

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