Scientists identify human proteins that help HIV

Los Angeles: By using a technique to screen thousands of genes, US scientists have identified around 300 human proteins that help the Human Immunodeficiency Virus propagate, kindling hopes of new treatment for the deadly condition, a new study says.

The identification of the proteins is through a process called RNA interference, said researchers from Harvard University.

The team identified 273 human proteins that could provide a way to help people with HIV when the virus develops resistance to the existing anti-viral drugs, says the study published in the latest issue of Science Express.

"The anti-viral drugs are currently doing a good job of keeping people alive, but these therapeutics all suffer from the same problem - that is you can develop resistance. So, we decided to take a different approach centered on the human proteins exploited by the virus," Stephen Elledge of the department of genetics, Harvard Medical School, said in a statement.

"The virus will not be able to mutate to overcome drugs that interact with these proteins," he said. "The expanded list of proteins gives future researchers a hypothesis generation machine. Scientists can look at the list, predict why HIV needs a particular protein, and then test their hypothesis."

He noted that the immune cells, which are targeted by HIV, contain high concentrations of many of the 273 proteins.

"We're closing in on a system-level understanding of HIV, which opens new therapeutic avenues.