HIV and COVID-19: A Tale of Two Pandemics.

In the last 5 decades, we have witnessed two major pandemics, AIDS caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the CoronaVirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The emergence of COVID-19 has raised many concerns for researchers, doctors, patients, and other institutions associated with HIV. A lot of debate has persisted on clinical outcomes, the use of antiretrovirals, and vaccines on HIV patients infected with COVID-19. This note attempts to present different aspects of HIV and SARS-CoV-2 across themes like SARS-CoV-2 coinfections in people living with HIV, the psychological impact, treatments, vaccination, etc. We highlight how learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic can help us in tackling the HIV pandemic.

Streptavidin-conjugated gold nanoclusters as ultrasensitive fluorescent sensors for early diagnosis of HIV infection.

We have engineered streptavidin-labeled fluorescent gold nanoclusters to develop a gold nanocluster immunoassay (GNCIA) for the early and sensitive detection of HIV infection. We performed computational simulations on the mechanism of interaction between the nanoclusters and the streptavidin protein via in silico studies and showed that gold nanoclusters enhance the binding to the protein, by enhancing interaction between the Au atoms and the specific active site residues, compared to other metal nanoclusters. We also evaluated the role of glutathione conjugation in binding to gold nanoclusters with streptavidin. As proof of concept, GNCIA achieved a sensitivity limit of detection of HIV-1 p24 antigen in clinical specimens of 5 pg/ml, with a detection range up to1000 pg/ml in a linear dose-dependent manner. GNCIA demonstrated a threefold higher sensitivity and specificity compared to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of HIV p24 antigen. The specificity of the immunoassay was 100% when tested with plasma samples negative for HIV-1 p24 antigen and positive for viruses such as hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and dengue. GNCIA could be developed into a universal labeling technology using the relevant capture and detector antibodies for the specific detection of antigens of various pathogens in the future.