Grant: Op Gr: Innovative Biomedical and Clinical HIV/AIDS Research - New Investigators

Newborns are highly susceptible to infectious diseases including HIV. Recently, we have discovered that babies have very high number of immature red blood cells compared with adults. These cells are weakening the immune system of babies and making them more susceptible to infections. These cells are present in human babies for a certain period of time, probably a year, before they gradually disappear. It has been shown that babies are more susceptible to HIV disease progression. In the absence of treatment HIV kills 50% of infected infants by age 2. We also know that close to half of the babies born from HIV-infected mothers will contract the HIV-1 during pregnancy, through the birth or breastfeeding. In 2012 alone, over 260,000 newly HIV infected cases were reported in children, almost 30 children getting infected with HIV per hour. We don't know why some babies contract the HIV but others don't. Recently, we tested the impact of these immature red blood cells on HIV infection. Interestingly, we saw these cells increase HIV infection in CD4 cells (HIV target cells). Therefore, we believe abundance of these immature red blood cells in the newborn's blood may increase HIV replication and make HIV infected babies sicker. Since these cells are also abundant in human placenta and pregnant mothers, the goals of our studies are to better understand the role of these immature red blood cells in newborns and HIV transmission from mothers to the fetus. We are also interested in studying the role of generated immature red blood cells in adults following blood draw. We believe these cells are different with those in the newborn and placenta. In addition, we have engineered some probiotic bacteria with the ability to secrete a sugar binding protein called Galectin-9. We are planning to study whether these bacteria can reactivate latent HIV reservoir which is required for getting rid of hidden virus in the body and making HIV cure possible.