Scientists think they've found HIV weakness

HOUSTON, July 16 (UPI) -- HIV researchers at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston said they think they've found the chink in armor of the virus linked to AIDS. The vulnerable spot is hidden in a protein essential for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, to attach to host cells, the university said in a release. An HIV vaccine doesn't exist because HIV is a mutating virus. The scientists said they are focusing on a stretch of amino acids on HIV's envelope protein gp120. "Unlike the changeable regions of its envelope, HIV needs at least one region that must remain constant to attach to cells. If this region changes, HIV cannot infect cells," said Sudhir Paul, a pathology professor at the UT Medical School. Paul's group engineered antibodies with enzymatic... [read full story]