A group of Italian scientists based in Siena have made a breakthrough in AIDS research.
The researchers, led by Giovanni Maga of the National Research Council, have developed a computer model of a molecule that could be used to block the development of the HIV virus inside a cell for the first time.
A cell protein called DDX3 directs the flow of genetic information from a cell nucleus to another part of the cell, the cytoplasm, where the information is translated into new proteins.
''When the HIV virus gets into cells it hijacks this process and forces enzymes to produce new viral particles,'' Maga explained.
The new computer-generated molecule, which so far does not have a name, has been tailor-made to act on DDX3 before the viral proteins are developed, Maga said.
Laboratory tests have been ''promising,'' he said.
Importantly, Maga said, ''the molecule manages to interrupt the HIV virus's replication without damaging cells which have not been infected''.
The breakthrough could pave the way for new AIDS treatment based on changing the structure of cells, allowing ''longer-term results,'' the researcher told the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
Current treatment is based on cocktails of drugs which target viral enzymes outside the cells.
''But these enzymes easily build up resistance to the drugs,'' Maga said.
