Study in the Journal of Proteome Research followed 10 women who appeared to be unaffected by the virus and implicated 15 biomarkers.
A team of researchers have discovered a group of proteins that appear to be associated with resistance to HIV infection. The investigators were studying Kenyan sex workers, when they found that 140 of 2000 participants seemed resistant to infection with HIV.
The scientists used 2D-DIGE to examine cervical mucosa of 10 HIV-1 resistant women and 10 HIV-positive women. Over 15 proteins were found to be differentially expressed between the two groups. Some of these proteins showed a greater than 8-fold change. The team then confirmed the results with immunoblots using antibodies specific for cystatin A, serpin B3, and serpin B13.
The investigators acknowledge that a larger sample size will be necessary to validate these HIV-resistance biomarkers.
Researchers from the departments of medical microbiology at the University of Manitoba and the University of Nairobi collaborated on the study. Results will appear in the September 3 issue of the Journal of Proteome Research.
