Immunology wars: The battle with HIV

when a virus winds up inside the body it's usually met with a furious onslaught from the immune system white blood cells immediately respond by releasing anti viral proteins attacking infected cells and recruiting backup usually this is enough but there's one virus that pushes the immune system beyond its limits HIV HIV infects one of the immune cells that is central to the body's response to pathogens the helper t-cell first the virus attaches and enters once inside the virus moves towards the nucleus along with its enzymes and genetic material one of these enzymes reverse transcriptase converts the viral RNA into a length of DNA which inserts into the cell's genome forcing the cell to spew out HIV proteins and genetic material to make new copies of the virus these new viruses escape the cell to infect others HIV levels rise rapidly in the body but the immune system doesn't move down without a fight inside infected cells anti viral proteins called restriction factors work to shut down virus production while others stop the virus from escaping the cell outside white blood cells called fiy cells produce neutralizing antibodies which bind to surface spikes on HIV particles and stop them entering healthy helper t-cells the greatest assault comes from killer T cells and natural killer cells which seek and destroy infected cells directly they release a protein called perforin which punches the infected cells allowing enzymes to be injected triggering Auto destruction for a while the defense holds and virus levels drop but HIV begins its counter-attack it disables the cell's antiviral proteins allowing new virus particles to leave the cell it also constantly mutates inside the cell to evade protection the immune system can't fight what it can't see eventually the immune system wears itself out killer T cells activated for too long exhausted and no longer respond to infection also the body loses the ability to make new helper t-cells to replace those killed in the fight and as a result their numbers plummet ultimately the body becomes immunodeficient and this condition is known as AIDS without treatment exposure to otherwise harmless microbes can be fatal we still have no way of eliminating HIV from the body completely there is no cure and hidden reservoirs of HIV will rebound if treatment stops but treatment with antiretroviral drugs can swing the balance allowing the immune system to recover from battle and live to fight another day [Music]

Channel: nature video

Views: 1,418,094

Keywords: science, nature video, hiv, human immunodeficiency, virus, Helper T Cell, Immune response, AIDS, cell biology, immunology, natural killer cells, antibodies, treatment, therapy, antiretrovirals

Id: BADDj82oces

Length: 3min 7sec (187 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 17 2019