Latest news with #DohertyInstitute
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
'New pathway' to cure for HIV discovered using tech from COVID-19 vaccine
Researchers have taken a giant leap in the search for an HIV cure by discovering a way to identify the virus even as it is camouflaged among other cells. HIV spreads by invading and multiplying within white blood cells, which fight disease and infection. One of the main roadblocks in developing a cure has been finding a way to isolate and kill the virus without also killing white blood cells and harming the body's immune system. Researchers from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia have now cultivated a method to identify the virus among white blood cells, as demonstrated in a recent paper published in Nature Communications, isolating the virus for potential treatment. The technology involves mRNA — molecules isolated from DNA that can teach the body how to make a specific protein — which were also used in the COVID-19 vaccines. By introducing mRNA to white blood cells, it can force the cells to reveal the virus. Using mRNA in this way was 'previously thought impossible,' research fellow at the Doherty Institute and co-first author of the study Paula Cevaal told The Guardian, but the new development "could be a new pathway to an HIV cure.' 'In the field of biomedicine, many things eventually don't make it into the clinic – that is the unfortunate truth; I don't want to paint a prettier picture than what is the reality,' Cevaal said. 'But in terms of specifically the field of HIV cure, we have never seen anything close to as good as what we are seeing, in terms of how well we are able to reveal this virus. A cure is still years away, as Cevaal said it would still need to be tested on animals and then humans to see if it can be done safely on living beings before they can test whether or not a potential treatment would even work. However, she added that that "we're very hopeful that we are also able to see this type of response in an animal, and that we could eventually do this in humans.'
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Historic Aussie-first breakthrough in fight against condition impacting 40 million
In a groundbreaking leap forward in the global fight against HIV, researchers at Melbourne's world-renowned Doherty Institute have developed a revolutionary method that could one day pave the way for a cure, using the same mRNA technology that powered COVID-19 vaccines. This discovery gives fresh hope to the nearly 40 million people around the world living with HIV. While today's treatments can keep the virus under control, they can't remove it completely. That's because HIV hides in a type of white blood cell, staying asleep and undetectable. But if treatment stops, the virus can wake up and spread again. For decades, this hidden "reservoir" has been one of the biggest obstacles to finding a cure. Now, researchers believe they've found a way to reach these sleeping cells and wake the virus up in a safe and controlled way, while the patient is still on their usual medication. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Dr Michael Roche, a Senior Research Fellow at the Doherty Institute, explained how his team used mRNA wrapped inside tiny fat-like bubbles called lipid nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are designed to travel directly to infected cells. Once inside, the mRNA sends instructions to the cell to make a protein called Tat — a natural HIV protein that tells the virus it's time to wake up. "Tat is a protein that helps the virus 'wake up' when the virus wants to," Dr Roche said. "Here we are using Tat to wake the virus up when we want to." This process is often called the "shock and kill" strategy. The idea is to force the virus out of hiding while the patient is still on HIV medication, so the virus can't spread and can instead be targeted and destroyed by the immune system or future therapies. The discovery is still in early stages, but it's the first time mRNA has successfully reached and activated the HIV reservoir in a lab setting. The team's next step is to test the treatment in animal models to check if it's safe and if it works. "We are looking for two signals," Dr Roche said. "Firstly, safety. Secondly, efficacy — whether it can wake up dormant HIV in animals." These trials will take a few years. Only after passing those tests can human trials begin — first to ensure the treatment is safe, and then to test how well it works in people. A key advantage is that this therapy uses the same technology that powered the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. "Our therapeutic is based on the same technology — mRNA and lipid nanoparticles — used in the COVID vaccines," Dr Roche said. "The global rollout of these vaccines has shown that this approach can be scaled and distributed globally." He pointed to a new BioNTech mRNA facility in Rwanda, which is being set up to support production in areas with a high burden of HIV. The team is also focused on making sure the treatment, if successful, can be made affordable and accessible. "We are committed to ensuring any cures we develop are scalable, accessible and affordable," Dr Roche said. Aussies warned over widespread danger emerging in homes Concerning roadside find reveals dangerous trend landing Aussies in hospital Controversial 'alcohol alternative' coming to Woolworths this month In Australia, around 29,000 people are living with HIV. New infections have dropped over the past decade thanks to wider access to HIV prevention medication (PrEP), regular testing, and strong treatment programs. The country recorded its lowest number of new HIV cases in over 20 years in 2022. But some challenges remain. In 2023, there was a slight increase in new cases, mostly among people born overseas and those infected through heterosexual contact. Still, the long-term trend is positive, and now, with this research, a cure no longer feels out of reach. If successful, this approach could one day mean people living with HIV no longer need daily medication, and may even be able to live completely free of the virus. As the world watches closely, Australia's scientists are once again leading the charge. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Chicago Tribune
09-06-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
Used in COVID shots, mRNA may help rid the body of HIV
The technology that powered COVID vaccines may also lead scientists to a cure for HIV. Using mRNA, Australian researchers said they were able to trick the virus to come out of hiding, a crucial step in ridding the body of it entirely. The research, published last week in Nature Communications, is still preliminary and so far has been shown to be successful only in a lab. But it suggests that mRNA has potential far beyond its use in vaccines as a means to deliver therapies against stubborn adversaries. Short for messenger RNA, mRNA is a set of instructions for a gene. In the case of COVID vaccines, the instructions were for a piece of the coronavirus. In the new study, they are for molecules key to targeting HIV. Dr. Sharon Lewin, director of the Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne, who led the study, called mRNA a 'miraculous' tool 'to deliver things that you want into places that were not possible before.' Vaccines deploying mRNA instruct the body to produce a fragment of the virus, which then sets off the body's immune response. In the United States, the shots were initially hailed for turning back the pandemic, then viewed by some with suspicion and fear. Some officials, including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have falsely said that they are highly dangerous and even deadly. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services sought to limit the vaccine's availability to pregnant women, children and healthy younger adults. The administration also canceled a nearly $600 million contract with the drugmaker Moderna to develop an mRNA shot for humans against bird flu. 'The fear right now is not rational,' Lewin said, adding that 'mRNA vaccines have been given to millions of people around the world, so we have a very good understanding of their risks.' The new study describes the use of mRNA as a tool to flush HIV out of its hiding places. Other uses could involve providing proteins missing from those with certain diseases or correcting genetic errors. Frauke Muecksch, a virologist at Heidelberg University in Germany who was not involved in the work, called mRNA a 'promising, absolutely powerful technology.' Although most people may have only heard of mRNA's use in science during the pandemic, scientists have been working with it for more than 20 years, she said. 'I think it's not just therapeutically very powerful, but also for basic science, for research, it opens up a lot of avenues,' she added. Potent antiretroviral drugs can now control HIV, suppressing it to undetectable levels. Still, minute amounts of the virus lie dormant in so-called reservoirs, waiting for an opportunity to resurge. A cure for HIV would involve ferreting out all of this virus and destroying it, a strategy that has been called 'shock and kill.' A significant hurdle is that the virus lies dormant in a particular type of immune cell, called a resting CD4 cell. Because these cells are inactive, they tend to be unresponsive to drugs. The few drugs scientists have previously used to rouse the virus in these cells were not specific to HIV and had unwanted side effects. 'It's fair to say the field's been a little bit stuck,' said Brad Jones, a viral immunologist at Weill Cornell Medicine who was not involved in the latest research. In 2022, Jones and his colleagues found that the immune boost from the mRNA vaccines awakened latent HIV in people living with the virus. (Other research has shown that mRNA vaccines also activated dormant viruses including Epstein Barr.) 'You get just a little bit of a gentle nudge with some of these vaccines, and it's enough to coax some of these latent viruses out so they can be killed,' Jones said. Lewin and her colleagues had for years experimented with other ways to activate HIV but had no luck in resting cells. Seeing the success of the COVID vaccines, which used lipid nanoparticles — tiny spheres of fat — containing mRNA, her team tested similar particles. They used the particles to deliver two different sets of molecules: Tat, which is adept at switching HIV on, and CRISPR, a tool that can 'edit' genes. The researchers showed that in resting immune cells from people living with HIV, the approach coaxed the virus out of dormancy. 'It's very, very hard to deal with these cells, so I think this really targeting the right population of cells is what makes this paper special,' Muecksch said. It's unclear whether the new approach can successfully awaken all of the dormant HIV in the body, and what side effects it might produce. Lewin said that 'mRNA will almost certainly have some adverse effects, as every drug does, but we will investigate that systematically, as we do for any new drug.' In this case, she said, side effects may be more acceptable to people living with HIV than having to take medications for the rest of their lives. The researchers plan to test the method in HIV-infected animals next, before moving into clinical trials. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Straits Times
07-06-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
Used in Covid-19 shots, mRNA may help rid the body of HIV
The new study describes the use of mRNA as a tool to flush HIV out of its hiding places. PHOTO: UNSPLASH Used in Covid-19 shots, mRNA may help rid the body of HIV NEW YORK - The technology that powered Covid-19 vaccines may also lead scientists to a cure for HIV. Using mRNA, Australian researchers said they were able to trick the virus to come out of hiding, a crucial step in ridding the body of it entirely. The research, published last week in Nature Communications, is still preliminary and so far has been shown to be successful only in a lab. But it suggests that mRNA has potential far beyond its use in vaccines as a means to deliver therapies against stubborn adversaries. Short for messenger RNA, mRNA is a set of instructions for a gene. In the case of Covid-19 vaccines, the instructions were for a piece of the coronavirus. In the new study, they are for molecules key to targeting HIV. Dr Sharon Lewin, director of the Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne, who led the study, called mRNA a 'miraculous' tool 'to deliver things that you want into places that were not possible before.' Vaccines deploying mRNA instruct the body to produce a fragment of the virus, which then sets off the body's immune response. In the United States, the shots were initially hailed for turning back the pandemic, then viewed by some with suspicion and fear. Some officials, including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, have falsely said that they are highly dangerous and even deadly. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services sought to limit the vaccine's availability to pregnant women, children and healthy younger adults. The administration also cancelled a nearly US$600 million (S$773.72 million) contract with the drugmaker Moderna to develop an mRNA shot for humans against bird flu. 'The fear right now is not rational,' Dr Lewin said, adding that 'mRNA vaccines have been given to millions of people around the world, so we have a very good understanding of their risks.' The new study describes the use of mRNA as a tool to flush HIV out of its hiding places. Other uses could involve providing proteins missing from those with certain diseases or correcting genetic errors. Dr Frauke Muecksch, a virologist at Heidelberg University in Germany who was not involved in the work, called mRNA a 'promising, absolutely powerful technology.' Although most people may have only heard of mRNA's use in science during the pandemic, scientists have been working with it for more than 20 years, she said. 'I think it's not just therapeutically very powerful, but also for basic science, for research, it opens up a lot of avenues,' she added. Potent antiretroviral drugs can now control HIV, suppressing it to undetectable levels. Still, minute amounts of the virus lie dormant in so-called reservoirs, waiting for an opportunity to resurge. A cure for HIV would involve ferreting out all of this virus and destroying it, a strategy that has been called 'shock and kill.' A significant hurdle is that the virus lies dormant in a particular type of immune cell, called a resting CD4 cell. Because these cells are inactive, they tend to be unresponsive to drugs. The few drugs scientists have previously used to rouse the virus in these cells were not specific to HIV and had unwanted side effects. 'It's fair to say the field's been a little bit stuck,' said Dr Brad Jones, a viral immunologist at Weill Cornell Medicine who was not involved in the latest research. In 2022, Dr Jones and his colleagues found that the immune boost from the mRNA vaccines awakened latent HIV in people living with the virus. (Other research has shown that mRNA vaccines also activated dormant viruses including Epstein Barr.) 'You get just a little bit of a gentle nudge with some of these vaccines, and it's enough to coax some of these latent viruses out so they can be killed,' Dr Jones said. Dr Lewin and her colleagues had for years experimented with other ways to activate HIV, but had no luck in resting cells. Seeing the success of the Covid-19 vaccines, which used lipid nanoparticles – tiny spheres of fat – containing mRNA, her team tested similar particles. They used the particles to deliver two different sets of molecules: Tat, which is adept at switching HIV on, and CRISPR, a tool that can 'edit' genes. The researchers showed that in resting immune cells from people living with HIV, the approach coaxed the virus out of dormancy. 'It's very, very hard to deal with these cells, so I think this really targeting the right population of cells is what makes this paper special,' Dr Muecksch said. It's unclear whether the new approach can successfully awaken all of the dormant HIV in the body, and what side effects it might produce. Dr Lewin said that 'mRNA will almost certainly have some adverse effects, as every drug does, but we will investigate that systematically, as we do for any new drug.' In this case, she said, side effects may be more acceptable to people living with HIV than having to take medications for the rest of their lives. The researchers plan to test the method in HIV-infected animals next, before moving into clinical trials. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Daily Mail
06-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Major HIV breakthrough forces hidden fragments of the virus to emerge so it can be cleared from the body
Experts could have found a way to be one step closer to curing HIV for good. Researchers in Australia has developed a new treatment that forces hidden fragments of the virus - normally concealed within human cells - to emerge and expose themselves to the immune system. The breakthrough could enable the body, aided by antiviral drugs, to detect and destroy any lingering viral reservoirs. HIV has remained incurable because the virus can integrate itself into a cell's DNA, laying dormant and undetectable to both medication and immune defenses. Scientists said they've created a nanoparticle capable of delivering genetic instructions to infected cells, prompting them to produce a signal that reveals the virus's presence. Dr Paula Cevaal of the Doherty Institute and co-author of the study told The Guardian that the feat was 'previously thought impossible'. Cevaal said: 'In the field of biomedicine, many things eventually don't make it into the clinic, that is the unfortunate truth; I don't want to paint a prettier picture than what is the reality. 'But in terms of specifically the field of HIV cure, we have never seen anything close to as good as what we are seeing, in terms of how well we are able to reveal this virus. 'So, from that point of view, we're very hopeful that we are also able to see this type of response in an animal, and that we could eventually do this in humans.' The discovery was first revealed in the journal Nature Communications, where researchers said they were initially so astonished that they had to rerun the tests. Further research would be needed to determine whether revealing the virus would be enough to trigger an immune response, with tests only being carried out in the lab. It could still take years before clinical trials for the drug began, when it would have to go through rigorous testing before reaching consumers. However, the advance represents another step forward for the 1.2 million Americans currently living with an HIV infection - for which they took drugs daily. An estimated 31,800 people were believed to be infected every year, although that's a 12 per cent decline on five years ago. Globally, nearly 40 million people have the virus. The new nanoparticle's based on mRNA technology, the same as was used in covid vaccines made by Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers. In their paper, the scientists revealed that they could deliver mRNA instructions to cells using the nanoparticle. The mRNA then instruct cells to generate substances that reveal the presence of HIV, but only if the virus was present. The study done in the laboratory was carried out in cells donated by HIV patients.
