Scientists Make Immune Cells in Mice That Fight Off HIV

But it will be years until this gene therapy is tested in humans, researchers say...

HIV gene therapy success is first of its kind

City of Hope researchers have demonstrated the first successful, long-term persistence of anti-HIV genes in patients with AIDS-related lymphoma treated through gene therapy. The study appeared online June 16 in the journal Science Translational Medicine....

New anti-HIV weapons found in immune system

Scientists report they've discovered possible new weapons in the war against HIV: antibody "soldiers" in the immune system that might prevent the AIDS virus from invading human cells.
According to the researchers, these newly found antibodies connect with and neutralize more than 90 percent of a group of HIV-1 strains, involving all major genetic subtypes of the virus.
That breadth of activity could potentially move research closer toward development of an HIV vaccine, although that goal still remains years away, at best, experts say.
The findings "show that the immune system can make very potent antibodies against HIV," said Dr. John Mascola, a vaccine researcher and co-author of two new studies published online July 8 in the journal Science.
"We are trying to understand why they exist in some patients and not others. That will help us in the vaccine design process," said Mascola.
Antibodies are warriors in the body's immune system that work to prevent infection. "Neutralizing" antibodies bind to germs and try to disable them, explained Ralph Pantophlet, an immunologist and assistant professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada......

Microfluidic Blood Test Developed at UC Davis

UC Davis biomedical engineer ProfESSOR Alexander Revzin has developed a "lab on a chip" device for HIV testing. Revzin's microfluidic device uses antibodies to "capture" white blood cells called T cells that are affected by HIV.......

Related news release Novel microfluidic HIV test is quick and cheap

Microfcrofluidic device uses antibodies to 'capture' white blood cells called T cells affected by HIV....

HIV vaccines may induce HIV antibodies in trial participants, can cause false-positive test result

During trials of preventive HIV vaccines, trial participants may develop HIV-related antibody responses that could lead to a positive HIV test by routine antibody detection methods (called vaccine-induced seropositivity/reactivity [VISP]), and the potential for false-positive test results and an incorrect HIV diagnosis, according to a study in the July 21 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS......