New HIV study targets latency

Thanks to UNC researchers, the HIV virus might no longer have a place to hide.

On Thursday, a team of the University’s AIDS researchers announced a breakthrough method for flushing out the HIV virus when it is latent in cells.

The finding could represent the first step toward a possible cure for AIDS and contributes to the University’s reputation as a vanguard in the field.

The study, led by professor Dr. David Margolis, successfully exposed the HIV virus in cells in which it is normally hidden, which could provide an opportunity to treat those infected cells.

Nancie Archin, an author of the study, said the study demonstrates a way to make treatment more effective. After enabling the blockage of every new infection, the infected cells would eventually die and the patient would be effectively cured.

UNC has been at the forefront of HIV research since HIV was first recognized as a virus in the early 1980s, said Dr. Myron Cohen, director of UNC’s Center for Infectious Diseases.

The most notable success was Cohen’s discovery last year that antiretroviral treatment can hinder the transmission of the virus. It was named breakthrough of the year for 2011 by the journal Science.

Attracted to UNC’s reputation in HIV research, Margolis and Archin moved from their previous research site at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 2005.

“Opportunities were better here to do HIV research,” Archin said. “There were more HIV researchers here, and the potential for collaboration was much higher here.”

Their study is the first showing that latency itself can be attacked, Margolis said.

“That allows a lot of people to try new things or try better things or work on the problem, people who hadn’t been working on the problem before because it didn’t seem possible,” Margolis said.

Ronald Swanstrom, director of the UNC Center for AIDS Research, said that while it is too early to say whether this discovery will lead to the cure, it is a necessary move in the right direction.

“The next step is doing multiple doses and seeing the effect,” he said.

The study was financed by grants. Archin said she hopes this success will encourage the medical community to direct more funding toward HIV research.

“There may be a lot of hard work ahead of us,” she said, “but there is a hope it might be possible to cure HIV.”

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