Built-In Enzyme Could Destroy HIV

New research uncovered the exact atomic structure of an enzyme that can destroy HIV even in its earliest stages, before it gets a chance to transcribe and replicate. Apparently, it acts as a natural immune reaction to the virus, but, during its evolution, HIV learned how to inhibit APOBEC-3G, practically rendering the human body vulnerable to attacks.
 

But now scientists at the University of South California, led by Xiaojiang Chen, professor of molecular and computational biology, were finally able to determine exactly how the enzyme looks like, as well as the mechanisms that HIV uses to shut down the enzyme when it invades a host. The Vif protein, known as the "virulence factor", is the body's natural way of inhibiting APOBEC-3G. Apparently, the HIV virus also managed to find a way to encode Vif, so that the enzyme believes it is stopped by the body and not an intruder.
 

But this "back door" might not stay opened to HIV for much longer. Chen and his team believe their new discovery could bring about novel ways of looking at anti-HIV/AIDS medication. Doctors will no longer have to focus on removing the virus or treating the disease after the patient falls ill, but instead could act to prevent the infection from occurring in the first place, by using a vaccine of sorts. This drug will simply have to identify APOBEC-3G and render it immune to the action of the Vif protein.
 

The prospect of having a viable prevention method against HIV ready in a few years has set the international scientific community on fire. Hopefully, that will direct some much needed funds to USC, for continued research on the matter. Chen also says that this find could help cure other diseases as well, such as cancer or hepatitis B.  Fortunately, with this breakthrough, it's possible that scientists resolved the most complex and threatening puzzle medicine has ever faced.