HIV如何进行自我隐蔽

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How HIV Hides Itself
Source: Society for General Microbiology
Researchers have discovered how Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, can hide itself in our cells and dodge the attention of our normal defences, scientists heard today (Tuesday 1 April 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology’s 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
本周在爱丁堡国家会议中心召开162界普通微生物学学会会议上（2008-4-1，周二），科学家聆听到了这样的报告，有研究者发现了艾滋病的元凶HIV是怎样在我们人类细胞内隐蔽逃避正常的免疫监视机制。
When a normal virus such as the common cold infects people we develop an immune response and produce defence cells which can quickly get rid of the virus. But when HIV infects us it can last for our whole life. HIV does this by successfully hiding from our immune cells, which are seeking to identify and destroy the virus, fooling them into thinking that it is part of the normal trash in a cell rather than being clearly visible on the cell surface.
正常病毒如普通感冒病毒，感染人后，刺激机体免疫反应，产生防御细胞从而快速清除病毒。但是，HIV感染人后将在宿主体内持续终身。HIV确实能够成功逃避免疫细胞的识别和攻击，使其错误的认为HIV是细胞正常垃圾的一部分，在细胞表面无法清晰辨认。
“HIV can make a protein called Nef, which helps the virus hide. Nef interferes with one important part of our defences which helps our immune system recognise infected cells by displaying pieces of the infecting virus or bacteria on the cell surface, forming a target for our bodies’ killer cells. When HIV infects one of our cells, the protein Nef binds to this helper system and alters it in such a way that the cell believes it belongs in the cellular trash bin rather than on the surface where our main defences can see it,” says Associate Professor Dr Kathleen Collins of the University of Michigan, USA.
美国密执安大学的Kathleen Collins博士，副教授说：“HIV可产生一种叫做Nef的蛋白，它能够协助HIV隐蔽。Nef蛋白能够干扰机体防御的一个重要部分，该部分的主要作用是通过使受病毒或细菌感染的细胞表面表达特殊碎片，识别受感染细胞，为机体杀伤细胞提供靶位。当HIV感染一个细胞，Nef蛋白与这个辅助系统结合，改变其作用方式，使细胞认为HIV是细胞垃圾的一部分，从而不能被监视细胞表面的防御系统所发现。”
The Nef protein made by HIV recruits other proteins which we naturally make within our cells to aid this subversion. The US scientists have identified these natural proteins and developed inhibitors which can block their actions, reversing the activity of Nef and potentially allowing our immune system to function properly and clear the virus from our system.
HIV产生的Nef能够招募细胞内自然产生的蛋白来协助这种破坏行动。美国的科学家已经识别了这些自然产生的蛋白，并开发了能够阻止其作用的抑制剂，逆转Nef的活性，有可能使免疫系统正常工作，从而清除病毒。
“We are currently screening a whole range of substances looking for small molecule inhibitors which could be developed into drugs to provide better therapies for people with HIV and AIDS,” says Kathleen Collins. “We have discovered that Nef takes on notably different shapes and structural forms in different contexts, which allows it to reveal or obscure different traffic signals within the infected cell as needed. Once we have a better understanding of the surfaces and shapes involved in these interactions we will be in a better position to develop medicines which may someday help to combat AIDS.”
Kathleen Collins 说：“我们现在正在进行全方位的筛选物质，寻找一种小分子，能够开发成为更好的治疗HIV和艾滋病的药物。我们发现，Nef在不同情况下可出现不同的形状和结构形式，因此能够在感染细胞内随心所欲产生或模糊‘交通信号’。一旦我们对这些相互作用的形状和表面有了更好的理解，我们将在医学发展中处于一个更好的位置，帮助我们有一天战胜艾滋病。”