Working with human cells in a laboratory dish, the researchers used two different methods separately to inactivate ITK. One is a relatively new method called small interfering RNAs, or siRNAs, which can stop certain genes from functioning.
They also used a drug called BMS509744, which already had been known to chemically interfere with the protein but had not been looked at in the context of fighting HIV infection.
Both methods succeeded in undercutting HIV infection.
"We didn't completely block (infection) but we certainly severely impaired it," Schwartzberg said. "It has minor effects at multiple stages of HIV life cycle, and together that all adds up to a more profound effect."
Schwartzberg said it could be years before any drug based on the idea of inhibiting ITK could be tried in people, and said more experiments are needed on human cells and HIV in the lab assessing other ways of inhibiting the protein.
The NIH and the researchers have filed for a patent on the idea of using ITK to treat HIV infection.
