Trap for viruses...

[Jarek]

Standard approach to fight with viruses is to use antigens which search for some specific place on it's surface, but the problem is that the capsid is varying rapidly.
What usually doesn't change is that the virus still targets to the same molecules on cell's surface - maybe we should try to use it.

For example create empty liposome - water + phospholipid with specific molecules - for example CD4 and some chemokine receptors for HIV.
Now if the virus would catch the bait, it will enter inside and loose its capsid - even if the liposome will be destroyed - it shouldn't longer be a threat or at least much smaller than it would be swimming in capsid.
Eventually we could add inside for example reverse transcriptaze inhibitor or some RNA cutting enzyme.

Imagine such stealth liposom with CD4 - it should swim through veins for a few hours catching viruses, than be consumed with it's content by immune system - perfect scenario.
And remember that every HIV virus has some version of gp120 - should catch the bait...

[mith]

It's called a decoy receptor

[Jarek]

?
from wiki: "A decoy receptor, or sink receptor [2], is a receptor that binds a ligand, inhibiting it from binding to its normal receptor. For instance, the receptor VEGFR-1 can prevent vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) from binding to the VEGFR-2[2]"
I'm not talking about blocking it's receptors, but to make it catch the bait to trap it inside an empty liposom, which will be finally consumed by the immune system...

[MikeS]

It's already been done before by modifying red blood cells instead of liposomes. And like all research, don't expect breakthrough treatments for at least a decade...

[Jarek]

Yes, I've just get know it from another forum - there are more details if someone is interested:
http://www.thescienceforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=140400

[mith]

cool!

[Jarek]

I've completely forgotten that viral envelop proteins stays in the membrane...
These proteins can make more difficult entering more viruses to already infected cell (they could infect different cell and it affects very precise infection mechanism so in summarize there should be produced smaller amount of viruses).
That suggest using 'weakened' viruses to inhibit real infections ... but ...
... these proteins should be main target for immune system! Especially that more of them are placed there for creation of new viral envelopes for more viruses ... (this encapsulation should cost a lot of energy, which will be used later to bind to another membrane).

So about using erythrocytes - the more viruses they catch, the less probably they catch more. And after catching a virus - they would be targeted by immune system! We still would have to replace them...

But for using liposoms it's good news - after catching a virus they will present its viral envelope proteins, learning immune system - they should have vaccination effect!
We see that they should be made for one virus - very small (remember that they will grow while catching virus).

The problem is that I've heard that most of HIV cell infections happens in lymph (?). Maybe small liposoms (with eventual some membrane molecules) could get there also?