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.
Šta radite kada imate glavobolju? Popijete aspirin. Ali da bi ova pilula došla do vaše glave, gde se nalazi bol, ona prvo prolazi kroz vaš stomak, creva i razne 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.
Gutanje pilula je najefikasniji i najbezbolniji način da se bilo koji lek dostavi u telo. Negativna strana je to što gutanje bilo kog leka dovodi do razblaživanja. Ovo je veliki problem, naročito kod pacijenata s HIV-om. Kada uzmu svoje lekove protiv HIV-a, ovi lekovi su dobri za smanjivanje virusa u krvi i povećavanje broja CD4 ćelija. Ali takođe su ozloglašeni zbog svojih nuspojava, uglavnom zato što se razblaže dok ne dođu do krvi, i što je još gore, dok dođu do najbitnijih mesta: unutar viralnih HIV rezervoara. Ova područja u telu, poput limfnih čvorova, nervnog sistema i pluća - gde virus spava i tu se lekovi neće dostaviti u krvi pacijenata koji su pod stalnom terapijom uz lekove protiv HIV-a. Ipak, nakon prekida terapije, virus može da probudi nove ćelije u krvi i zarazi ih.
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.
Ovo sve je veliki problem za lečenje HIV-a sa trenutnim lekovima, za doživotni tretman lekovima koje pacijenti moraju da gutaju. Jednog dana, sela sam i pomislila: "Možemo li da lekove protiv HIV-a dostavimo direktno u rezervoare, bez rizika od razređivanja lekova?" Kao naučniku za lasere, odgovor je bio preda mnom: laseri, naravno. Ako mogu da se koriste u zubarstvu, za operacije i lečenje rana dijabetičara, mogu se koristiti za bilo šta drugo, uključujući i prenošenje leka do ćelija.
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.
Zapravo, trenutno koristimo laserski puls za probijanje i bušenje veoma malih rupa koje se otvaraju i zatvaraju skoro odmah u ćelijama zaraženim HIV-om, kako bi se dotle doveo lek. Možda ćete pitati, kako je to moguće? Uperimo veoma moćan, ali sićušan laserski zrak na membranu ćelija zaraženih HIV-om dok su ove ćelije spuštene u tečnost koja sadrži lek. Laser buši ćeliju, dok ćelija guta lek za nekoliko mikrosekundi, Pre nego što trepnete, nastala rupa se momentalno 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.
Ovu tehnologiju trenutno testiramo u epruvetama ili Petrijevim šoljama, ali cilj je da se ova tehnologija dovede do ljudskog tela i da se tu primeni. Pitaćete, kako je to moguće? Odgovor je: uz pomoć naprave sa tri glave. Koristeći prvu glavu, koja predstavlja laser, napravićemo rez na mestu infekcije. Koristeći drugu glavu, koja predstavlja kameru, dolazimo do mesta infekcije. Konačno, koristeći treću glavu, koja predstavlja prskalicu s lekom, lek dostavljamo direktno na mesto infekcije, a laser se ponovo koristi kako bi se otvorile te ćelije.
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.
Ovo možda trenutno ne izgleda kao nešto naročito. Ali ukoliko budemo imali uspeha, ova tehnologija jednog dana može dovesti do potpunog istrebljenja HIV-a iz tela. Da, lek za HIV. Ovo je san svakog istraživača HIV-a - u našem slučaju, to je lek kojeg pokreću laseri.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)