PROTEIN FROM THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS AIDS CANCER VIRUS
PROTEIN FROM THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS AIDS CANCER VIRUS -- A protein made by a cancer-causing virus using an unusual gene enables that virus to infect immune cells and persist in the host, new research shows. The study examines the function of a protein called HBZ, which is made by the human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), a retrovirus and a distant cousin to HIV, the cause of AIDS. The findings indicate that HBZ enhanced the ability of HTLV-1 to establish a persistent infection in an animal host. The study by researchers with the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center and the College of Veterinary Medicine is published in the May issue of the journal Blood. Patrick Green, professor of Veterinary Biosciences and of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, and a Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher, is the principal investigator. More information is available at http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/mediaroom/press/article.cfm?ID=2689.
|
