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.
Mutations in a single gene may have turned the AIDS virus from a fairly benign infection of monkeys and apes into a global pandemic that has killed more than 25 million people in 25 years, researchers say. The virus in humans appears to have lost a genetic characteristic that protected the immune system in apes and monkeys, the researchers report in this week's issue of the journal Cell.
"The observed difference in Nef function may provide--for the first time--a mechanism to explain why many monkey species naturally infected with SIV do not develop disease," said Frank Kirchhoff of the University of Ulm in Germany, who helped lead the study.
Beatrice Hahn of the University of Alabama at Birmingham had earlier shown that the human immune deficiency virus, or HIV, descended from a chimpanzee virus called simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV.
Many species of monkeys and chimps are infected with various strains of SIV, and it almost never causes disease. But HIV destroys the human immune system, leading to AIDS and usually death. There is no cure or vaccine.
Working with colleagues in Germany, Gabon, and elsewhere, Kirchhoff and Hahn's team focused on a protein and a gene called nef, found in all SIV and HIV strains. In SIV it helps ratchet down the activation of T-cells. These immune system cells are key to protection against disease, and HIV selectively infects T-cells known as CD4 helper T-cells.
In HIV infection, these T-cells destroy themselves in a process known as programmed cell death or apoptosis. But the SIV version of the virus seems to somehow shut off the death function.
"The findings suggest that the gene function was lost during viral evolution in a lineage that gave rise to HIV-1 and may have predisposed the simian precursor of HIV-1 for greater pathogenicity in humans," the researchers wrote.
This finding could open the door to new ways of treating HIV, they said.
"A strong immune response can be good in the short term, but if sustained for a long time as in those with HIV, it can exhaust the immune system," Kirchhoff said. "If you could somehow dampen the response, it might effectively convert the condition to the more chronic, asymptomatic infection seen in monkeys." (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
10 Cheeky and Homoerotic Photos From Bob Mizer's Nude Films
November 18 2023 10:05 PM
30 Steamy Photos of Folsom Street Fair 2023 Debauchery
October 15 2023 11:06 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
60 Burly Pics from Bearrison Street Fair 2022
October 08 2023 8:30 PM
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
Prince William's aversion to spectacle created one — and might spawn a King Harry
March 22 2024 6:24 PM
Outrage after Oklahoma prosecutor declines charges in Nex Benedict bullying death
March 22 2024 5:21 PM
George Santos leaves Republican Party, will run for House seat as independent
March 22 2024 4:07 PM
Catherine, Princess of Wales, announces she has cancer
March 22 2024 2:57 PM
Pride
Yahoo FeedProhibition Wellness & revolutionizing self-care for all
March 22 2024 1:19 PM
Tennessee bill would permit anti-LGBTQ+ foster and adoptee parents
March 22 2024 11:54 AM
Plus
Yahoo Feed8 dating tips for gay men from a gay psychotherapist
March 22 2024 11:51 AM
Trans woman assailed during Kanye West's Rolling Loud set beats back 'bullies' (exclusive)
March 22 2024 11:34 AM