Australian scientists make breakthrough on HIV's infectious grip

The Melbourne-based research has explained how the virus hides dormant versions of itself in a reservoir of cells out of the reach of conventional treatments but still able to "wake up" in the future, posing a major hurdle to any total cure for HIV.

"Once HIV gets into these cells, the virus can then go to sleep, " Co-Head of the Burnet Institute's Center for Virology and Director of The Alfred's Infectious Diseases Unit, Professor Sharon Lewin told Australian Associated Press (AAP) on Tuesday.

"These silently infected cells are not cleared by anti-HIV drugs or the immune system (meaning) once a patient stops the anti- HIV drugs, the virus can then wake up and gets going again.

"Understanding this mechanism will enable new treatment options to be developed which could block latent infection."

The research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science this week.

Prof Lewin said it had remained a mystery as to how the virus gained access to the body's resting CD4-T cells and how it could then lie hidden for years despite prolonged treatment with anti- HIV drugs.

"Our team of researchers has now identified the path by which the virus can infect resting CD4-T cells and establish latency," Prof Lewin said.

The research was a collaborative effort involving scientists from the Burnet Institute, The Alfred, Monash University of Australia, University of Montreal, Canada and the Westmead Millennium Research Institute in Sydney; Kazinform cites Xinhua.

See www.xinhuanet.com for full version.