Gene therapy to cure HIV infection.

To date, the only intervention that has cured HIV infection has been bone marrow transplants from HIV-resistant donors to HIV-infected recipients. This approach has been used to both cure hematological malignancies and HIV infection, but it cannot be widely adopted due to the high risk of mortality associated with cell transplants between individuals. To overcome this limitation, several approaches have been developed to generate HIV resistance using gene therapy in an infected individual's own cells.

[Gene therapy to cure HIV infection].

To date, the only intervention that has cured HIV infection has been bone marrow transplants from HIV-resistant donors to HIV-infected recipients. This approach has been used to both cure hematological malignancies and HIV infection, but it cannot be widely adopted due to the high risk of mortality associated with cell transplants between individuals. To overcome this limitation, several approaches have been developed to generate HIV resistance using gene therapy in an infected individual's own cells.

Efficacy, accumulation, and transcriptional profile of anti-HIV shRNAs expressed from human U6, 7SK, and H1 promoters.

The expression of short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) in cells has many potential therapeutic applications, including as a functional cure for HIV. The RNA polymerase III promoters H1, 7SK, and U6 have all been used to express shRNAs. However, there have been no direct and simultaneous comparisons of shRNA potency, expression level, and transcriptional profile between the promoters.

Cloning and Detection of Aptamer-Ribozyme Conjugations.

RNA aptamers can be used to target proteins or nucleic acids for therapeutic purposes and are candidates for RNA-mediated gene therapy. Like other small therapeutic RNAs, they can be expressed in cells from DNA templates that include a cellular promoter upstream of the RNA coding sequence. Secondary structures flanking aptamers can be used to enhance the activity or stability of these molecules.

A U1i RNA that Enhances HIV-1 RNA Splicing with an Elongated Recognition Domain Is an Optimal Candidate for Combination HIV-1 Gene Therapy.

U1 interference (U1i) RNAs can be designed to correct splicing defects and target pathogenic RNA, such as HIV-1 RNA. In this study, we show that U1i RNAs that enhance HIV-1 RNA splicing are more effective at inhibiting HIV-1 production compared to top U1i RNAs that inhibit polyadenylation of HIV-1 RNA. A U1i RNA was also identified targeting a site upstream of the first splice acceptor site in the Gag coding region that was effective at inhibiting HIV-1 production.

Small RNAs to treat human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection by gene therapy.

Current drug therapies for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) infection are effective in preventing progression to acquired immune deficiency syndrome but do not eliminate the infection and are associated with unwanted side effects. A potential alternative is to modify the genome of patient cells via gene therapy to confer HIV resistance to these cells. Small RNAs are the largest and most diverse group of anti-HIV genes that have been developed for engineering HIV resistant cells.