What do you do when you have a headache? You swallow an aspirin. But for this pill to get to your head, where the pain is, it goes through your stomach, intestines and various other organs first.
Kaj naredite, ko imate glavobol? Pojeste aspirin. A da ta tableta pride do vaše glave, kjer je bolečina, gre najprej skozi vaš želodec, črevesje in druge organe.
Swallowing pills is the most effective and painless way of delivering any medication in the body. The downside, though, is that swallowing any medication leads to its dilution. And this is a big problem, particularly in HIV patients. When they take their anti-HIV drugs, these drugs are good for lowering the virus in the blood, and increasing the CD4 cell counts. But they are also notorious for their adverse side effects, but mostly bad, because they get diluted by the time they get to the blood, and worse, by the time they get to the sites where it matters most: within the HIV viral reservoirs. These areas in the body -- such as the lymph nodes, the nervous system, as well as the lungs -- where the virus is sleeping, and will not readily get delivered in the blood of patients that are under consistent anti-HIV drugs therapy. However, upon discontinuation of therapy, the virus can awake and infect new cells in the blood.
Jemanje tablet je najbolj učinkovit in neboleč način dostave kateregakoli zdravila v telo. Slaba plat je, da požiranje kateregakoli zdravila vodi v njegovo razredčitev. In to je velik problem, še posebej pri pacientih s HIV-om. Ko vzamejo zdravila za HIV, so ta zdravila dobra za nižanje virusa v krvi in višanje števila celic CD4. A so tudi zloglasna zaradi svojih neželenih stranskih učinkov, v glavnem zato, ker se razredčijo, ko pridejo v kri in še slabše, do takrat, ko pridejo tja, kjer so najbolj pomebna: v rezervoarje virusa HIV-a. Ti predeli v telesu, kot so limfne žleze, živčevje, kot tudi pljuča, kjer virus spi, in ne bo dostavljen v kri pacientov, ki so na redni anti-HIV terapiji. Ko s terapijo prenehamo, se virus lahko zbudi in okuži nove celice v telesu.
Now, all this is a big problem in treating HIV with the current drug treatment, which is a life-long treatment that must be swallowed by patients. One day, I sat and thought, "Can we deliver anti-HIV directly within its reservoir sites, without the risk of drug dilution?" As a laser scientist, the answer was just before my eyes: Lasers, of course. If they can be used for dentistry, for diabetic wound-healing and surgery, they can be used for anything imaginable, including transporting drugs into cells.
To je velik problem pri zdravljenju HIV-a s trenutno terapijo, ki je doživljenska in pacienti jo morajo pojesti. Nekega dne sem se usedla in pomislila: "Ali lahko dostavimo anti-HIV naravnost v mesto rezervoarja, brez tveganja razredčitve?" Kot laserska znanstvenica sem imela odgovor pred očmi: laserji, seveda. Če jih lahko uporabljamo v zobozdravstvu, za zdravljenje diabetičnih ran in pri operacijah, jih lahko uporabljamo za karkoli, vključno za dostavljanje zdravil v celice.
As a matter of fact, we are currently using laser pulses to poke or drill extremely tiny holes, which open and close almost immediately in HIV-infected cells, in order to deliver drugs within them. "How is that possible?" you may ask. Well, we shine a very powerful but super-tiny laser beam onto the membrane of HIV-infected cells while these cells are immersed in liquid containing the drug. The laser pierces the cell, while the cell swallows the drug in a matter of microseconds. Before you even know it, the induced hole becomes immediately repaired.
Pravzaprav, trenutno uporabljamo laserske pulze, da zbodemo ali zvrtamo ekstremno majhne luknjice, ki se odprejo in skoraj nemudoma zaprejo v celicah okuženih s HIV-om, da bi vanje dostavili zdravilo. Morda boste vprašali: "Kako je to mogoče?" No, posijemo z zelo močnim, a zelo majhnim laserskim žarkom na membrano s HIV-om okuženih celic, medtem ko so te celice obdane s tekočino, ki vsebuje zdravilo. Laser prebode celico, medtem ko celica požre zdravilo v nekaj mikrosekundah. Preden se zaveš, se ta luknjica v trenutku popravi.
Now, we are currently testing this technology in test tubes or in Petri dishes, but the goal is to get this technology in the human body, apply it in the human body. "How is that possible?" you may ask. Well, the answer is: through a three-headed device. Using the first head, which is our laser, we will make an incision in the site of infection. Using the second head, which is a camera, we meander to the site of infection. Finally, using a third head, which is a drug-spreading sprinkler, we deliver the drugs directly at the site of infection, while the laser is again used to poke those cells open.
Trenutno preizkušamo to tehnologijo v epruvetah ali v petrijevkah, a cilj je dobiti to tehnologijo v človeško telo, jo uporabiti v človeškem telesu. Vprašali boste: "Kako je to mogoče?" Odgovor je: skozi tro-glavo napravo. Z uporabo prve glave, ki je naš laser, bomo naredili zarezo na mestu infekcije. Z uporabo druge glave, ki je kamera, gremo na mesto infekcije. Končno, z uporabo tretje glave, ki je škropilec zdravil, dostavimo zdravilo naravnost na mesto infekcije, medtem ko laser uporabimo, da spet odpremo te celice.
Well, this might not seem like much right now. But one day, if successful, this technology can lead to complete eradication of HIV in the body. Yes. A cure for HIV. This is every HIV researcher's dream -- in our case, a cure led by lasers.
To se za zdaj morda ne zdi veliko. A nekega dne, če bo uspešna, ta tehnologija lahko vodi v popoln izbris virusa HIV iz telesa. Da. Zdravilo za HIV. To so sanje vsakega raziskovalca virusa HIV - v našem primeru, zdravilo, ki ga vodijo laserji.
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplavz)