Kamel Khalili, PhD, Laura H. Carnell Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Director of the Center for Neurovirology and the Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM), is the senior investigator on a new study published in the journal Molecular Therapy in which Temple researchers reported that a drug used in the treatment of HIV also suppresses Zika virus infection. They showed that in cell and animal models, the drug rilpivirine stops Zika virus by targeting enzymes that both HIV and Zika virus depend on for their replication. The enzymes occur in other viruses closely related to Zika, including the viruses that cause dengue, yellow fever, West Nile fever and hepatitis C. Dr. Khalili credited the breakthrough to collaboration among colleagues, including Jennifer Gordon, PhD, and Ilker K. Sariyer, DVM, PhD, Associate Professors of Neuroscience at the Center for Neurovirology at LKSOM. ScienceDaily, Scienmag, News-Medical.net, ConsumerAffairs and other outlets covered the news.
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