Our HIV cure is trying to use stem cells and it mi

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Our HIV cure is trying to use stem cells and it might be a successful way for many kinds of cures. I read an interesting article this morning that I wanted to share that is expanding our knowledge of using and programming stem cells. It’s really quite an advancement.

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Our cure involves transplanting adult stem cells from another person who does not have a CCR5 delta 32 double allele deletion. Leronlimab substitutes for that gene deletion. The benefit of that is a more closely related person can be used for the stem cells reducing the chance of autoimmunity (GVHD). Although in almost all cases drugs that fight the autoimmunity still need to be used. for a lifetime limiting that treatment for a cure.

The trial you linked must have used allogenic (from the same patient) adult stem cells then dialed them back to a naive (fetal) pluripotent state. If they hadn't you'd see some level of rejection or GVHD. By nature any HIV carrier will not be a CCR5 delta 32 double allele deletion. Those allogenic naive stem cells would not wipe out HIV carrying cells and would still have CCR5 expression so the trick with leronlimab would be unlikely to work. If naive pluripotent stem cells from another person that has the CCR5 deletion don't cause an autoimmune reaction than in combo with leronlimab it could be effective and safe.

Either way there's still the possibilities of AAV leronlimab and ART/bNAb/ leronlimab treatment.

In the case of the trial you linked that regrows neuronal pathways leronlimab may be helpful because we know it downregulates processes that have a negative effect on that regrowth.