A mathematical model has revealed part of the secret to why some people linkurl:infected with HIV never get sick,;http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature08997.html providing a new target in the attempt to harness that ability in a vaccine, according to research published in __Nature.__
People who can control their HIV infections carry a specific subtype of the gene for the major histocompatability complex (called HLA in humans). The immune system relies on HLA molecules to train T cells to avoid attacking the body's own tissues by presenting self-peptides. T cells that don't bind too strongly to the HLA-self-peptide complex are then activated against pathogens. Researchers found that individuals with a specific subtype of the HLA molecule, HLA-B57, have a lower level of HIV RNA without any retroviral therapy -- but just how this molecule confers protection has been an area of intense study. Rather...
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from a lymphocyte. Image: C. Goldsmith, CDC |
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