Researchers at INSERM France shows why its so difficult to tackle HIV
and why a vaccine is so hard to find.
sorry article in french:
VIH : sa capacité d’adaptation freine l’arrivée du vaccin
One of the two american labs INSERM is working with appears to be
Scripps Research Institute , the one we are linked through FAAH WCG crunching

http://www.thebodypro.com/content/70381/genet...istant-cells-the-lat.html

"January 29, 2013

Genetically Engineered, HIV-Resistant Cells: The Latest Breakthrough in HIV Gene Therapy

A new gene therapy could make a person's CD4+ cells resistant to HIV -- a method that, if successful, would eliminate the need for antiretroviral drugs for those living with HIV, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

HIV replicates by infecting a person's CD4+ cells, which the virus enters through the CCR5 receptor (or, in rare cases, the CXCR4 receptor) found on the CD4+ cell surface. Inactivating these receptors would block HIV from entering the cells.

The study, led by Matthew Porteus, M.D., an associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford, follows in the footsteps of Sangamo BioSciences' ongoing research using zinc finger nucleases to artificially disrupt the CCR5 receptor on the surface of CD4+ cells. Porteus and his team take that approach and go one step further.

A Stanford news release stated:

They used the same nuclease to zero in on an undamaged section of the CCR5 receptor's DNA. They created a break in the sequence and, in a feat of genetic editing, pasted in three genes known to confer resistance to HIV, Porteus said. This technique of placing several useful genes at a particular site is known as "stacking."
Incorporating the three resistant genes helped shield the cells from HIV entry via both the CCR5 and CXCR4 receptors. The disabling of the CCR5 gene by the nuclease, as well as the addition of the anti-HIV genes, created multiple layers of protection.

Blocking HIV infection through both the CCR5 and CXCR4 receptors is important, Porteus said, as it hasn't been achieved before by genome editing. To test the [CD4+] cells' protective abilities, the scientists created versions in which they inserted one, two and all three of the genes and then exposed the [CD4+] cells to HIV..."

"Merck and others are working to identify combinations of small molecules capable of seducing latent HIV out of hiding. This approach will most likely need to be combined with other approaches to either augment the immune system’s ability to recognize and eliminate such cells and/or directly kill them."

http://www.hivplusmag.com/cure/2013/07/17/hiv-eradication-our-future

I wonder whether FAAH would consider including such small molecules capable of seducing latent HIV out of hiding into its project?

http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/Ne...y-news+%28Biology+News%29

"Date:8/14/2013

Neutron studies of HIV inhibitors reveal new areas for improvement

The first study of interactions between a common clinical inhibitor and the HIV-1 protease enzyme has been carried out by an international team with members from the US, Britain and France using neutrons at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France. It provides medical science with the first true picture of how an antiviral drug used to block virus replication actually works, and critically how its performance could be improved. The findings, reported in the Journal for Medicinal Chemistry, and the neutron techniques demonstrated at the ILL, will provide the basis for the design of a new generation of more effective pharmaceuticals to address issues such as drug resistance..."

(GMU) August 2, 2013

"... HIV tricks the surface sensors into sending signals to the interior that change the cell's structure and allow the virus to enter and infect it
... Genistein is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, which blocks cell communication
... This approach differs from that of antiretrovirals, which attack the virus itself. The researchers believe that manipulating the cell rather than the virus might be more successful in preventing drug resistance."

http://www.thebody.com/content/72378/plant-based-compound-may-inhibit-hiv.html