New Human Cellular Targets for Future Anti-HIV Drugs

The current study, published in Science online on Thursday, details how a collaborative effort between a few labs took normal human cells and using a technique known as RNA interference, screened out normal human genes as potential natural protein targets that are needed in a cell for HIV to replicate, reproduce and spread.  Many of these proteins had already been identified, but approximately eight times more were found using this method.  Most current HIV drugs work by attacking the machinery of HIV itself, which only produces fifteen proteins on its own.  These new targets are particularly exciting since one of the problems with current HIV therapy is resistance by the virus mutating so that the drug no longer is effective against the newly created strain.  Because these are normal, human proteins, the risk of mutation and subsequent resistance is almost nonexistent.  Only one of the major current drugs in use, Fuseon, interferes with normal human cellular function by interfering and preventing the binding of HIV to a normal receptor on the cell surface which the virus then uses to aid its entry into a healthy cell.  Nevertheless, this is just a beginning, as each of these proteins will need to be tested with various drugs.  Further, because these are normal human proteins, the potential for devastating side effects is increased as normal cellular function could be potentially harmed or arrested.  However, this is the same approach that is currently being used by many current anti-cancer drugs, to greater or lesser effect.  All in all, this is outstanding news, since the future pipeline of anti-HIV drugs was slowing after a recent "flood" of excellent new drugs have been developed. (tip: New York Times online edition)