Using Enemy as a Weapon
Brilliant! Somebody at Washington University is using HIV protein as a vehicle to better target cancer cell. If this promising idea can be translated clinically , we may see less side effect Chemotherapy Agents.
“HIV knows how to insert itself into many different types of cells,” says senior author William G. Hawkins, M.D., assistant professor of surgery and a member of the Siteman Cancer Center at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “A portion of the HIV protein called TAT can transport biologically active compounds into cells. TAT is small, but it can move massive molecules. You could almost hook TAT up to a train, and TAT would drag it inside a cell. So we’ve taken advantage of this ability.”
via ScienceDaily