A cellular protein called
Serin5 is a strong natural viral inhibitor capable of
neutralising HIV and other viruses, according to researchers
from the Centre for Integrated Biology (CIBIO) at the University
of Trento, who this week published an article on their findings
in the journal Nature.
The research team was led by Massimo Pizzato, who said that
the Serinc5 protein sits on the cell surface and can prevent the
HIV virus from of infecting new cells.
However, a protein in the HIV virus called Nef currently
deactivates the Serinc5 protein's antiviral action, he said.
Pizzato said that his group is now working to make the
Serinc5 protein "invisible" to HIV, which would enable it to
combat the virus.
"At that point we will have taken a crucial step ahead of
the virus," Pizzato said.
In an associated study in Heinrich Gottlinger's lab at the
University of Massachusetts, the same results were achieved
using a different methodology.
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