Cats Can Help With HIV Vaccine

Cats Can Help With HIV Vaccine

A new study suggests that cats can be the key factor in coming up with a more effective HIV vaccine for humans. The study showed that a certain protein found in the virus that causes AIDS in felines can cause an immune response in blood from HIV infected people.

FIV or feline immunodeficiency virus is similar to HIV for humans in both symptoms and effects. The research was published this October in the Journal of Virology and researchers from the Universities of California, Florida and San Francisco said that with further research a better vaccine for people can be developed.

Janet Yamamoto, a professor of retroviral immunology at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine said that one of the reasons for the delay in an efficient HIV vaccine is that researchers don’t know exactly what part of the HIV virus to combine to obtain a performing solution.

For years scientists have combined HIV proteins with the goal of obtaining a better vaccine but to no avail, at least not one that can be commercialized as a legitimate HIV vaccine. “Surprisingly” notes professor Yamamoto, proteins from the virus that causes AIDS in cats have worked very well in producing human T-cells that can fight the virus.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday October 06 2013, 4:01 AM EST. Ref: usnews. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0