Latest news with #Pfizerand
News18
a day ago
- Health
- News18
Can This Covid Vaccine Technology Also 'Kick And Kill' HIV?
Last Updated: A team of Australian scientists has developed a novel method to reveal hidden HIV in white blood cells Scientists at Australia's Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne have developed a groundbreaking method to 'wake up" hidden HIV within the human body, a crucial step that could enable their complete removal. And they have used mRNA technology, the same kind used in Pfizer and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines. Nearly 40 million people are living with HIV worldwide. One of the main challenges in curing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) lies in its ability to establish latent reservoirs. These are small numbers of infected cells, primarily resting CD4+ T cells, where the virus integrates its genome but remains dormant and invisible to both the immune system and antiretroviral therapies (ART). While ART can suppress the virus to undetectable levels, it cannot eliminate these hidden reservoirs. If treatment stops, the virus can re-emerge and replicate, necessitating lifelong medication for people living with HIV. The Australian team discovered a novel way to deliver 'special instructions" to these hidden, latently infected cells. In a study published in Nature Communications, the researchers demonstrated how they packaged mRNA inside novel, microscopic fat-like bubbles called lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), specifically a new design termed 'LNP X". The key breakthrough was engineering these LNPs to successfully transport the mRNA into the previously hard-to-reach resting CD4+ T cells. Once delivered, the mRNA instructs these cells to 'give up" the dormant virus, forcing it out of hiding and making it visible. This strategy aligns with the long-sought 'kick and kill" approach to HIV cure, where latency-reversing agents 'shock" the virus out of its dormant state, allowing the body's immune system or other therapies to 'kill" the newly exposed infected cells. Dr Paula Cevaal, a research fellow at the Doherty Institute and co-first author, described the initial results as astonishing, requiring repeated experiments to confirm their accuracy. 'We were overwhelmed by how big the difference was," she noted, emphasising the unprecedented success in revealing the hidden virus. While the research is currently laboratory-based and conducted on cells donated by HIV patients, this innovative method represents a significant step forward. The next crucial phase involves preclinical testing in animal models, followed by human trials to assess safety and efficacy. First Published: June 07, 2025, 04:36 IST
India Today
2 days ago
- Health
- India Today
Scientists find technology used in Covid vaccine to cure HIV
In a major scientific breakthrough, researchers in Australia may have found a new way to bring the world one step closer to curing at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne have developed a method to "wake up" hidden HIV viruses inside the human body, potentially allowing them to be removed ability for the HIV virus to conceal itself inside some white blood cells has been one of the main challenges for scientists looking for a cure. This also makes it nearly impossible for the immune system or even strong medicines to detect and destroy it But now, in their quest to find the best treatment, they have found a way to get the virus out of the their hidden form of HIV is known as a "reservoir." While today's medicines can control the virus, they cannot remove it. People with HIV still need lifelong treatment to stay healthy and prevent spreading the researchers have now used mRNA technology, the same kind used in Pfizer and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines, to deliver special instructions to these hidden instructions make the virus come out of hiding, so it can potentially be eliminated from the problem before was that the white blood cells hiding HIV didn't accept the fat bubbles, or lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), that carry the the Melbourne team designed a new version of these fat bubbles called LNP X, which successfully entered the tricky white blood cells and delivered the Paula Cevaal, one of the lead researchers, said the early results were so surprising that the team repeated the experiments many times to confirm what they were seeing. "We were overwhelmed by how big the difference was," she told The research, published in Nature Communications, is still in the early stages and was done using cells donated by HIV patients in the steps would involve testing the method in animals, followed by human trials to check if the treatment is safe and truly team believes this could be a major moment in the fight against HIV, and possibly even helpful in treating other diseases like certain Reel
