💊 Curing AIDS with a simple vitamin?

How can we eliminate a virus that hides inside our very own immune cells? This question has haunted researchers for decades. HIV, the AIDS virus, has this ability to lie dormant and well-hidden, evading both treatments and the body's defenses. This state of latency complicates a cure, as the viral genetic material remains present without producing new viruses, thus forming hidden reservoirs.

A team from Ulm University Hospital recently identified a promising lead for waking these sleeping viruses. They discovered that a natural human protein, named RBP4 and known for its role in transporting vitamin A, can activate latent HIV. This protein acts as a natural signal to flush the virus out of its hiding place, making it detectable again by the immune system.


To achieve this discovery, scientists performed a meticulous screening of the human blood peptidome. They tested many small proteins and peptides present in the blood to observe which ones could awaken latent HIV in cellular models. This method allowed them to isolate RBP4 as the active agent, and this, even at normal physiological concentrations in the human body.

The function of RBP4 depends on its association with vitamin A, more specifically in the form of retinol. Only the protein bound to retinol manages to trigger reactivation, by stimulating a signaling pathway called NF-κB. This pathway, important for immune responses and cell division, must be activated to bring HIV out of latency.

This advance opens new perspectives for the "shock and kill" strategy, which aims to awaken dormant viruses so they can then be eliminated. By using a natural factor like RBP4, researchers hope to improve the effectiveness of this approach, with potentially fewer side effects than with synthetic agents.

Published in the journal Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, this study benefited from the support of the German Research Foundation and partner institutions. Work now continues to examine how to integrate RBP4 into therapeutic protocols, which constitutes a new glimmer of hope in the quest for a durable cure against HIV.