EVEN dud HIV particles can inflict serious damage on the immune system, new
research suggests.
Only 1 in 100 HIV particles in the blood of an infected person can replicate
inside cells. But Irvin Chen and his colleagues at the University of California
in Los Angeles found that the others can block the division of immune cells in
the test tube.
They believe this is because defective HIV particles, like successful HIV,
contain a protein called Vpr which carries the virus to cell nuclei. This
protein also disrupts white blood cells鈥� ability to divide and orchestrate a
defence against invaders. 鈥淰pr is a very potent protein,鈥� says Chen.
Advertisement