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Beverly Merz

JAMA. 1988;259(4):463.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

A NEW APPROACH to blocking the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in vitro may be a harbinger of successful therapy for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Investigators at Genentech, South San Francisco, have announced that they have produced CD4—the protein that is the primary cellular receptor for HIV—through genetic engineering. The membrane-bound CD4 provides the HIV virus passage into human cells when it binds to the virus' envelope protein, p120. Originally thought to be unique to helper T cells, CD4 has been located on a variety of cells of other lineages including monocytes, macrophages, glial cells, and Langerhans' cells, cementing its position as the major portal for HIV infection.

In collaboration with a team of investigators led by Jerome Groopman, MD, at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, the Genentech group has determined that in cell cultures recombinant CD4 can intercept the virus before it connects to the cellular receptor, thus preventing . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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