An international research team co-led by a School of Engineering faculty member has developed a novel method to study how HIV mutates to escape the immune system. The HIV virus, which can lead to AIDS, has proved particularly di cult for the human immune system to eradicate due to its ability to rapidly evolve. Genetic mutations enable the virus to escape the body’s defence system of T-cells and antibodies, and make it especially challenging for lasting solutions to be designed. While there is currently no e ective cure, HIV can be controlled with medication. The new approach, published in an article in high-impact journal Nature Biotechnology, stems from a study led by Prof. Matthew MCKAY, Electronic & Computer Engineering and Chemical & Biological Engineering, and Prof. John BARTON, Physics & Astronomy, at the University of California, Riverside. The team devised its “marginal path likelihood” method using conventional statistical physics to reveal patterns of selection in HIV evolution in HIV-infected individuals, with ndings indicating that the method could e ciently distinguish between mutations that help the virus evade the body’s immune system and random variations. “The accuracy and high e ciency of our approach enable the analysis of selection in complex evolutionary systems that were beyond the reach of existing methods,” Prof. McKay said. Given the general nature of the method, it could also be used to study diverse evolutionary processes, such as the evolution of drug resistance of pathogens and the evolution of cancers, he noted. However, the team had focused on HIV as a test system due to its extraordinary capability to mutate and escape the human immune system. “The details of these immune escape dynamics are not well understood,” he said. “If we can gain a clearer picture of how HIV evolves within a person, this may help to develop better treatments or vaccines against the virus.” In the News Fresh insights into HIVmutations 08 IN FOCUS Imaging technology that sheds light on brain functions in regions that have never been well explored has been developed in a collaborative endeavor between Prof. QU Jianan, Electronic and Computer Engineering, and HKUST neuroscientist Prof. Nancy IP, Vice-President for Research and Development and The Morningside Professor of Life Science. In developing their adaptive optics two-photon endomicroscopy system, the research team used a localized fluorescence signal as a “guide star” inside biological tissues, which allowed them to measure aberrations of the miniature endoscope being employed as well as the brain tissue. The development now makes in vivo (live) imaging of deep brain structures possible at a high resolution. Prof. Qu, who specializes in biophotonics, optical devices and systems, and optical image processing research, said: “The ability to conduct live imaging of the deep brain at high resolution has long been a challenge. With adaptive optics two-photon endomicroscopy, we can now study the structures and functions of the deep brain at an unprecedented Hi-res view of living brain Prof. Matthew McKay (left) and research team members Dr. Muhammad Saqib Sohail (right), HKUST postdoctoral fellow, and Dr. Raymond Louie (center), University of New South Wales and formerly a research assistant professor at HKUST.
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