HIV’s sweet tooth is its downfall

HIV has a powerful sweet tooth. After the virus invades an immune cell, it craves sugar and nutrients from the cell to replicate and grow. Scientists discovered the switch that flips on the cell’s sugar pipeline. Then they blocked the switch with an experimental compound, shutting down the pipeline and starving HIV to death. The virus was unable to replicate in human cells. Similar new compounds could be part of drug ‘cocktails’ to treat HIV, they say.

HIV has a powerful sweet tooth. After the virus invades an immune cell, it craves sugar and nutrients from the cell to replicate and grow. Scientists discovered the switch that flips on the cell’s sugar pipeline. Then they blocked the switch with an experimental compound, shutting down the pipeline and starving HIV to death. The virus was unable to replicate in human cells. Similar new compounds could be part of drug ‘cocktails’ to treat HIV, they say.


SOURCE: Top Health News — ScienceDaily – Read entire story here.