New study reveals secrets of HIV’s ‘invisibility’

A University College London (UCL)-backed study has uncovered a potential new means of combating HIV by undermining its ability to evade the body's defence systems.

The team has found two molecules inside host cells in the immune system which are used by HIV after infection to stop the virus from reproducing its genetic material too early, thereby stopping the innate immune system from taking action.

By removing or blocking these molecules, the "invisibility" of HIV is negated, resulting in an antiviral immune response being triggered, thus making it harder for HIV to mutate and develop a resistance to therapy.

It is hoped that blocking these cloaking molecules can help to boost immune responses to experimental vaccines against HIV or protect against transmission of the disease.

Lead author Professor Greg Towers, a Wellcome Trust senior research fellow at UCL, said: "There's a great deal more research needed but the potential for this approach is huge, as a possible treatment in itself but also as a complement to existing therapies."

At the end of 2010, an estimated 91,500 people in the UK were living with HIV, with around one in four of these being unaware they were infected.