Engineering a patients blood cells to secrete anti-HIV antibodies could form the basis of a groundbreaking vaccine or one-shot treatment for the HIV virus that causes AIDS, according to a new international research study.

Molecular biologist Adi Barzel.

The new research, as described in the journal Nature, was led by molecular biologist Adi Barzel and PhD student Alessio Nehmad from Tel Aviv Universitys school of neurobiology, biochemistry and biophysics in collaboration with Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and additional researchers from Israel and the US.

The one-time injection was developed in Barzels laboratory using type B white blood cells that would be genetically engineered inside the patients body to secrete neutralizing antibodies against the HIV virus that causes the disease.

Formed in bone marrow, B cells are responsible for generating antibodies against viruses, bacteria and more. When they mature, B cells move into the blood and lymphatic system and throughout the body.

Barzel said that until now, only a few scientists, and we among them, had been able to engineer B cells outside of the body. In this study we were the first to do this in the body and to make these cells generate desired antibodies.

The genetic engineering is done with viral carriers derived from viruses that were engineered so as not to cause damage but only to bring the gene coded for the antibody into the B cells in the body.

All model animals that received the treatment responded well and had high quantities of the desired antibody in their blood, he reported.

When the engineered B cells encounter the virus, the virus stimulates and encourages them to divide, so we are utilizing the very cause of the disease to combat it, Barzel said.

If the virus changes, the B cells will also change accordingly in order to combat it, so we have created the first medication ever that can evolve in the body and defeat viruses in the arms race.

Barzel said that based on the study, researchers expect that over the coming years, they would be able to use the method to produce medication for AIDS and other infectious diseases, including certain types of cancer caused by a virus, such as cervical, neck and head cancer.

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One shot treatment for HIV could be on its way - Intermountain Jewish News