Chemokines Block AIDS But Can Also Cause Severe Inflammations

Chemokines, a recently discovered family of proteins, seem to have paradoxical roles. On the one hand, they have the ability to block production of the AIDS virus. It seems that they bind to a receptor protein, possibly the fusin protein, on the surface of immune system cells. HIV must use this receptor protein to be able to enter the cell and replicate, and when chemokines bind to the receptors, HIV cannot enter cells and replicate.

Chemokines are also involved in the inflammatory response of the immune system, and in a sense, they signal, pave the way, and lead white blood cells to areas of infection. Chemokines work beautifully in small amounts and in local areas, but chemokines in mass numbers can cause an inflammatory response that is worse than the original infection. Severe infections can sometimes trigger such an over-production of chemokines.

After the finding that chemokines may block the AIDS virus, scientists began researching the possibility of using chemokines to treat AIDS patients. However, injections of chemokines may hinder the immune system's ability to respond to local chemokines, or they may trigger an out-of-control inflammatory response. Thus, scientists caution that such treatment could make patients more susceptible to infections, and they continue to research other methods of using chemokines to treat AIDS.

Source: "Newfound Foes of AIDS Virus Can Be Culprits in Other Diseases" by Gina Kolata, New York Times, December 26, 1995

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