Scientists were able recently to demonstrate that it's not only the genetic sequence of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that makes it so dangerous, but also its architecture. The term is used to compare the way the virus is put together with an electrical diagram, for example. The experts in charge of the study were amazed to learn that the way the pathogen looks also plays an important part in dictating its behavior once inside the body. The find could open up new avenues for research in discovering potential new courses of treatment for HIV infection and AIDS.
In their new experiments, scientists at the University of North Carolina (UNC) used a series of chemical compounds in order to detect morphological changes within the virus. The chemicals were attached to the exterior of the virus, and their movements analyzed via microscope. This is necessary because, for some reason, HIV cannot be observed through standard atomic-level microscopes, which makes analyzing it very difficult. Without an accurate understanding of what it does and how it casts, devising a cure will remain a far-off objective,
Wired reports.
The main difference between HIV and other, lesser viruses is the fact that the former has an internal structure made almost entirely out of single RNA strands, rather than the usual double-helix shaped DNA. Because of this layout, the genetic material that the agent carries is very dense, compact and difficult to observe. Despite decades of work, thus far only about 20 percent of its genome can accurately be placed within the virus. However, its genes and their order have been established.
According to the details that became visible on the new viral architecture map, it would appear that some of the central regions of the pathogen are involved in protein manufacture and production coordination. The map only features a one-dimensional presentation of a shifting 3D target, but more like it could lead to a better understanding of how genes are placed throughout its genome. Regular sequencing techniques, the ones that result in images similar to barcodes, do not work on HIV.
“The quest for a high-resolution structure of the entire HIV-1 RNA genome has begun in earnest,” says University of Michigan chemist Hashim Al-Hashimi. He authored a commentary accompanying the new study, published in the latest issue of the journal Nature. He argues that the new image could essentially tell researchers where to throw a “wrench” in the viral protein assembly line, so as to disrupt it and render the pathogen ineffective.
Find us on Google+
