Word: cd4
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...that time, scientists across the U.S. were excited about a possible breakthrough treatment: soluble CD4. They knew that HIV does not infect T cells at random. It must first attach itself to a particular protein, called CD4, on the T cells' surface. Perhaps, researchers reasoned, if they flooded the bloodstream with free-floating CD4 molecules, the molecules would act as decoys and prevent HIV from infecting the T cells. Preliminary tests on viral samples grown under laboratory conditions showed that soluble CD4 worked beautifully...
...Within days after the virus has penetrated the body, many people develop what feels like a miserable case of flu. No wonder. Thousands of HIV particles are reproducing themselves in their favored target: a specialized group of white blood cells called helper T cells. These cells, also known as CD4 cells, are the linchpin of the immune system, and when they are attacked the body marshals all its resources to protect them...
...original HIV/AIDS link presented in 1984 was that HIV, a new mutant retrovirus, causes AIDS by killing CD4+ lympocytes. CD4+ lymphocytes, or helper T-cells, are white blood cells which organize the body's immune system to combat infection. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) incorporated this definition into its database and has used it ever since to diagnose AIDS...
Shaw sees this work as "the first step in what needs to be a series of studies." He believes that HIV and CD4 need to be correlated at all stages of infection, new drugs must be made to combat existing and new enzyme targets, and combinations of drugs must be tested...
Shaw plans to explore the HIV and CD4 relationship at earlier stages of disease, look at cellular targets that harbor HIV and replicate with varying efficiency, and to evaluate the number of pre-existing mutants...