<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Scientists Discover a Way to Reach Hidden HIV</span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o

></o

></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><i><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">October 2, 2007</span></i><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o

></o

></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Researchers at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:City>’s <st1

lace w:st="on"><st1

laceName w:st="on">Jefferson</st1

laceName> <st1

laceName w:st="on">Medical</st1

laceName> <st1

laceType w:st="on">College</st1

laceType></st1

lace> have <a href="http://www.jefferson.edu/news/index.cfm?artid=2007/article15166.html" target="_blank"><span style="COLOR: #0000cc; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">found</span></a> that blocking small pieces of genetic material called microRNA (miRNA) could help antiretroviral drugs reach HIV that hides out in <a href="http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/TCellTest_4727.shtml"><span style="COLOR: #0000cc; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">CD4 cells</span></a>.<o

></o

></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Current antiretroviral drugs only work against HIV that is <a href="http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/hiv_life_cycle_5014.shtml"><span style="COLOR: #0000cc; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">reproducing</span></a> inside active CD4 cells. While drug regimens can reduce virus in the blood below detectable levels, immature copies of HIV remain inside memory CD4 cells that have switched from an activated to a resting state. As soon a person stops taking the drugs, even after years of suppressing the virus, those immature copies of HIV can begin reproducing if the cells become active, ultimately reestablishing the infection in a short time. Gaining access to the dormant virus has been a major goal of scientists seeking a way to eradicate HIV from the body.<o

></o

></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Now, Hui Zhang, MD, PhD, and colleagues have found that miRNA is what helps HIV quietly hide out inside the resting CD4 cells. When they artificially blocked miRNA in test tubes, HIV that had lain dormant inside resting cells began to reproduce. Dr. Zhang hopes this discovery will lead to treatments that safely block miRNA in people, saying that this “might become a kind of therapeutic approach to get the virus out of hiding, making it visible and a target.”<o

></o

></span></p>