Study finds cell protein that stops HIV

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have found a key protein in dendritic cells can stop the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS from replicating.

UCLA researchers found the protein prevents HIV "budding" -- part of the virus' life cycle that is crucial to its ability to replicate and infect other cells.

"If we can block virus generation, then we can control the disease," said UCLA Associate Professor Shen Pang, lead author of the study.

Dendritic cells are specialized white blood cells in the skin, mucosa and lymph nodes that activate lymphocytes, including the T cells that HIV targets. Although dendritic cells can be infected with HIV, studies have shown viral generation from such cells is nearly 100 times lower than from infected T cells, indicating the cells may possess some inhibiting property.

Pang hypothesized that DC-SIGN, a protein expressed in dendritic cells, might be responsible for such inhibition. He and his colleagues found DC-SIGN and a related protein, DC-SIGNR, both demonstrated 95 percent to 99.5 percent inhibition of viral production from host cells.

The study that included postgraduate researcher Qiuwei Wang is scheduled for publication in the April issue of the FASEB Journal and is now available online at www.fasebj.org/cgi/rapidpdf/fj.07-9443comv3.pdf