New research out of Temple University points to the possibility of developing a cure for patients with HIV and other viral-based diseases.
Dr. Kamel Khalili, who led the team out of Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple, said research using gene-editing technology proved successful at permanently suppressing HIV replication. The lab tests showed that gene editing not only eliminated HIV from cells; it also protected them against reinfection.
The research used T-cells in blood drawn from HIV-positive patients.
“It’s a good step toward utilizing this technique for an ultimate cure of HIV,” Khalili said, noting the next phases of research would include small-scale animal studies, larger-scale studies and ultimately clinical trials. It could take several years depending on funding, Khalili said.
He described how the gene-editing technology works by locating HIV-1 DNA in the T-cell genome and cutting it out of the sequence, effectively stopping the virus from spreading.
“We treated the virus like a genetic disease,” Khalili told PGN. “We wanted to get rid of the bad gene. You can actually reach into those sequences and excise a small portion or a large portion of viral DNA.”
People with HIV can currently take anti-retroviral drugs to suppress the virus from replicating in the body. But if they stop the medication, the virus can resume replication and spread, possibly developing into AIDS. The research by Khalili’s team shows replication can be stopped permanently.
“After excision, the cells are not negatively impacted,” Khalili said. “It’s a safe strategy.”
Khalili said his team is writing grant proposals to the National Institutes of Health and other places to secure grant funding for further research.