CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Scientists said on Wednesday they have discovered a key clue to how HIV mutates to invade the immune system. The discovery could advance the search for new drugs and a vaccine. Researchers at the Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard University Medical School have shown that the virus, which has infected 40 million people worldwide, alters its shape and triggers changes that allow it to enter cells. They obtained a three-dimensional image of a protein called gp120, part of HIV's outer membrane or envelope, before it transforms and binds to receptors on the CD4 cells it wants to infect. "Knowing how gp120 changes shape is a new route to inhibiting HIV--by using compounds that inhibit the shape change," said Stephen Harrison, head of the research team. Peter Kwong of the National Institutes of Health in Maryland described the research as a "technical tour de force" because scientists have sought the structure of the gp120 protein before it binds to CD4 receptors for almost 20 years. "In terms of vaccine design, the structure reveals the envelope at its potentially most vulnerable," he said in a commentary. A vaccine is considered the holy grail in the battle against the AIDS epidemic, but efforts to find one have been hampered by HIV's ability to mutate. "The findings also will help us understand why it's so hard to make an HIV vaccine and will help us start strategizing about new approaches to vaccine development," Harrison explained in a statement. Scientists had already deciphered the structure of the protein after it binds to the cell it wants to attack. The findings published in the science journal Nature provide information about how the molecule rearranges itself before it attacks. "We can now compare the bound and unbound forms and try to understand whether there are any immunologic properties that differ and that might provide a route to new vaccine or drug strategies," said Harrison. The scientists uncovered the shape of the unbound protein by aiming an X-ray beam through a crystallized form of gp120 from a monkey virus similar to HIV. (Reuters)
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Here Are Our 2024 Election Predictions. Will They Come True?
November 07 2023 1:46 PM
17 Celebs Who Are Out & Proud of Their Trans & Nonbinary Kids
November 30 2023 10:41 AM
Here Are the 15 Most LGBTQ-Friendly Cities in the U.S.
November 01 2023 5:09 PM
Which State Is the Queerest? These Are the States With the Most LGBTQ+ People
December 11 2023 10:00 AM
These 27 Senate Hearing Room Gay Sex Jokes Are Truly Exquisite
December 17 2023 3:33 PM
30 Steamy Photos of Folsom Street Fair 2023 Debauchery
October 15 2023 11:06 PM
10 Cheeky and Homoerotic Photos From Bob Mizer's Nude Films
November 18 2023 10:05 PM
42 Flaming Hot Photos From 2024's Australian Firefighters Calendar
November 10 2023 6:08 PM
These Are the 5 States With the Smallest Percentage of LGBTQ+ People
December 13 2023 9:15 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
The North Face faces conservative boycott for sponsoring a queer summer camp (exclusive)
April 10 2024 8:26 AM
John Cena opens up about defending his gay brother when they were kids
April 09 2024 10:21 PM
Trans Latina Meraxes Medina killed in Los Angeles
April 09 2024 10:11 PM
Morgxn is proudly queering Southern music - here's how
April 09 2024 7:03 PM
Elon Musk uses burner accounts on X, doesn’t fact-check: report
April 09 2024 5:44 PM
Pride
Yahoo FeedDiscover endless fun at The Pride Store: Games & electronics for all ages
April 09 2024 4:25 PM
Mean Girls' Daniel Franzese on playing an HIV+ character
April 09 2024 4:19 PM