A UCLA-led team of researchers recently discovered a protein that may aid in the prevention of the HIV virus, among other viruses detrimental to human health, according to a press release from the UCLA AIDS Institute.
The results from the study concern a protein known as cholesterol 25-hydroxylase, or CH25H. The enzyme transforms cholesterol into a different compound that blocks viruses from entering a cell, the press release stated.
Researchers injected the modified enzyme in mice that had implants of human tissue with HIV. The injections greatly reduced the prevalence of the disease in the mice. Additionally, the press release stated that the experiment showed that the enzyme reversed some of the damages inflicted by the HIV virus to the immune systems of the mice.
The team’s findings may spark continued research into cholesterol’s ability to alter cell membranes, stated Su-Yang Liu, the study’s lead author, in the press release.
Compiled by Amanda Schallert and Kevin Truong, Bruin contributors.