Since 2013, AREVA corporate Foundation elects to continue its commitment to fighting AIDS alongside Institut Pasteur.
The direct beneficiaries of the new partnership, which extends the research already supported by AREVA Foundation, are the teams of Professor-Doctor Olivier Schwartz, who directs the Virus and Immunity Research Unit, and of Dr. Michaela Müller-Trutwin of the Retroviral Infection Regulation Unit directed by Professor-Doctor Barré-Sinoussi, Nobel Prize in Medicine.
- New aspects of viral multiplication
The role of viral proteins in the formation of the “virological synapse” – the structure that allows the virus to go from cell to cell – will be studied, and the reaction of the cell itself will be analyzed.
This research should make it possible to see how the healthy cell reacts when it encounters an infected cell and how to help it put up a stronger shield against the virus. Understanding these mechanisms may lead to the development of innovative therapeutic strategies. - Interactions between the virus and the organism
New analyses will be carried out to determine the role that immune system cells play in controlling viral multiplication in the lymph nodes so as to understand how in some cases the immune system succeeds in protecting itself from the infection, and in particular by what cellular and molecular mechanisms.
Significant progress has been made and reported in some 40 scientific articles presented during 50 conferences and international congresses.
Key discoveries:
- Identification of a group of three cell proteins which reduce the virus’s passage from cell to cell through an original mechanism.
- Identification of antibodies capable of eliminating infected cells.
- Study of the infection’s multiplication in the green monkey – a unique case, since it is naturally resistant to the AIDS virus – led to the creation of tools to study inflammation control. This has resulted in a proposed pre-clinical trial and could impact the design of new therapeutic strategies in particular.
An estimated 1.2 million people died of AIDS last year and close to 35 million people are infected with the virus, putting AIDS at the top of the list of the world’s most deadly infectious diseases (WHO, 2015).
Antiretroviral treatments exist to fight the disease, but only 16 million people had the means to get them in 2015. And the treatments don’t completely eliminate the virus, which can multiply subclinically and constitute what is called a viral reservoir. This reservoir can be the source of a new viral multiplication in the organism if the antiretroviral treatment is interrupted, even after several years of therapy.
It is therefore important to better understand the mechanisms that regulate reservoir formation and to identify strategies for eliminating them.
The Institut Pasteur is a renowned private foundation recognized for its contribution to the public good. Its mission is to prevent and fight disease, in France and around the world, through scientific and medical research, education and public health services.