Scientists from the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California have been successful in creating HIV resistant cells, which may help control the virus without resorting to harsh anti-retroviral drugs.

Using mice to test the cells that target one of the two gateway molecules the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) uses to enter human cells, the researchers in order to blood stem cells resistant to HIV, first modified and then transplanted them into the mice, enabling the rodents to control the infection.

The approach if it can be applied to humans, could enable HIV resistant cells in the body that could help the patient’s cells being able to suppress HIV.

To quote Paula Cannon, Principal Investigator and Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology: ‘This hybrid gene and stem cell therapy show that it is possible to create HIV resistant immune cells that can eventually win the battle against HIV.’

Done on the scale of a mouse, the challenge is now to see whether this is possible on the human scale.

Researchers developed the strategy after observing people with a mutation in their CCR5 gene were naturally resistant to infection with the most common HIV strains and did not develop AIDS.

Knocking out the CCR5 gene in human blood stem cells with enzymes, the researchers then transplanted the modified stem cells into mice, which developed into mature cells of the human immune system, including the T cells HIV infects. The mice were able to maintain normal levels of the human T cells and suppress HIV, when infected with HIV.

Researchers hope gene therapy research, such as this may eventually yield a cure for both cancer and HIV infection.

The study has been published online in the journal Science Translational Medicine