Scientists have found a gene mutation in animals that blocks the reproduction of HIV and the Ebola virus

Human immunodeficiency virus, aka HIV, isa retrovirus that was discovered in 1983. Despite the fact that nearly 40 years have passed since that moment, a vaccine against it does not exist, just as there is no cure. Therefore, HIV is incurable to this day. According to official statistics, in 2020 there were 37.7 million people in the world who were living with the disease. Of course, medicine is already making good progress in HIV treatment, which can delay the development of AIDS, a deadly disease. However, according to official figures, last year from 480 thousand to one million people died from HIV in the world. Therefore, scientists continue to look for new, more effective methods. And, it seems, they manage to achieve certain success in this direction. So recently, a group of researchers led by scientists from Utah State Health University and Rockefeller University was able to find out how a genetic mutation found in some animals affects HIV and even the Ebola virus, the spread of which I recently talked about. According to the scientists themselves, the discovered mechanisms in animals can be applied to humans in the future.

Scientists have discovered a gene that protects some animals from HIV and the Ebola virus

New perspectives in HIV treatment

Biologists in the cells of mice and monkeys have found a genewhich was previously unknown to science, it was named retroCHMP3. As it turned out, it is able to block the formation of new copies of HIV and the Ebola virus. Details of the study are published in the journal Cell.

Some viruses, including HIV and Ebola,penetrate into cell membranes, and then bud off from the host cell and go outside. RetroCHMP3 has been shown to delay the release of the virus. Moreover, this time is enough for the virus to no longer replicate.

As the scientists themselves say, the discovery was veryunexpected for them. None of the researchers suspected that a slight slowdown in intracellular processes is enough to prevent the virus from developing. But why is this happening?

A single gene mutation protects monkeys from HIV infection

Most existing viruses thatknown to science, various cellular enzymes and other mechanisms are used for reproduction. That is, the organism itself helps to replicate them. Therefore, to fight viruses, scientists are developing drugs that prevent the body from helping them to multiply, that is, blocks the work of "accomplices". Evolution seems to have been guided by this very logic.

Gnen retroCHMP3 is a shorter analogueprotein CHMP3. The latter is an important gene in the ESCRT gene chain, which is responsible for sorting different molecules in cells. CHMP3 can be called the main virus helper, which provides the assembly of virus envelopes.

In the process of research, scientists found out thatretroCHMP3 performs the same functions as CHMP3, but at the same time actively binds to fragments of viral envelopes. As a result, the complete proteins of the ESCRT chain cannot complete the assembly of new viral particles. This prevents mice and monkeys from contracting HIV, Ebola, and many other infections. At the same time, the sorting of proteins in cells occurs, one might say, in a regular mode.

“We believed that the ESCRT gene chain wasthe Achilles heel, thanks to which viruses leave cells. But the discovery of the retroCHMP3 gene turned that idea upside down, ”says one of the study's authors, associate professor Nels Eldé.

Scientist Research May Help Create Future HIV Cures

How monkeys and mice genome can help fight HIV and Ebola

Scientists have found out an interesting feature, the generetroCHMP3, that is, a shortened version of CHMP3, could perform its main function of sorting proteins in cells only in mice and monkeys. In the case of arbitrary shortening of CHMP3 during protein sorting, significant violations appeared. This suggests that evolution deliberately shortened the gene so that it does not lose its functionality and interferes with the reproduction of viruses.

The researchers decided to find out what would happen,if you take the retroCHMP3 gene and implant it into human cells. As a result, as expected, cells with the new gene turned out to be invulnerable to viruses. But the most interesting thing is that the "transplant" retroCHMP3 did not disrupt the vital functions of cells.

Scientists expect that in the future it will turn outto figure out how to create a drug against HIV and other viruses based on protein. This will require additional research. If at the same time scientists succeed in achieving a positive result, we will definitely inform about it on our Yandex.Zen channel. Finally, I note that although HIV is considered an incurable disease, there have already been cases when people were completely cured of this disease. Hopefully, this will soon become normal practice in general.