tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667314236919359315.post6617655767724126303..comments2023-10-03T04:31:13.539+13:00Comments on Ingenuity Space: Stem cell HIV fixRocko Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393857769315571774noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667314236919359315.post-34574512708903703322010-12-17T06:52:52.837+13:002010-12-17T06:52:52.837+13:00Thanks Kieran, I understand this much better now.Thanks Kieran, I understand this much better now.Rocko Chenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15393857769315571774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667314236919359315.post-12385342766372234162010-12-16T23:34:04.622+13:002010-12-16T23:34:04.622+13:00Found this comment on Reddit about the story.
&qu...Found this comment on Reddit about the story.<br /><br />"This is actually old news (see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122602394113507555.html), and not really that surprising and/or miraculous considering what the "cure" actually entails - a bone marrow transplant.<br /><br />A certain percentage of the human race has innate immunity to HIV (~1%) through a mutation which prevents a molecule called CCR5 from appearing on the surface of your cells. In most people, this molecule signals HIV to bind and enter cells - hence, if you lack CCR5, then HIV can't see you and won't affect you. There are several new anti-HIV drugs that target CCR5, (called CCR5 antagonists), which attempt to disrupt this interaction.<br /><br />If you happen to be a leukemia patient with HIV (as was the case here) and you receive a bone marrow transplant from someone who has this innate immunity, chances are you will be effectively cured of your HIV infection because you are replacing your own immune system with that of the donor. A bone marrow transplant is HIGHLY invasive, and often does not work. The recipient is first blasted with very powerful chemotherapy to literally kill that person's bone marrow. During this stage the person is incredibly vulnerable to secondary infection because they have no adaptive immune response. Then, the recipient is injected with donor bone marrow stem cells, which in theory, will recolonize the bone tissue and eventually take over the immune response. In the case of this one patient, it appears that this is what happened.<br /><br />Consequently, this is NOT a practical cure for HIV - though it is a very interesting proof of concept."Kieranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09685605826076856683noreply@blogger.com