SEATTLE — It is a virus that's been ailing humans for millions of years, but to this day, there has been no absolute cure.
Virologists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle believe they're on their way to finding one through gene therapy after pre-clinical models showed it reduced up to 90 percent of the viral infection in tests.
"We're working on trying to develop new, gene therapy-based cures. Not just to treat these viruses but actually to cure them," said Dr. Keith Jerome, a professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at Fred Hutch and one of the researchers of the study.
Jerome's research specialty is on persistent viruses like HIV, Hepatitis B, and herpes simplex virus.
"We're working on trying to develop new, gene therapy-based cures. Not just to treat these viruses but actually to cure them," Jerome said.
Herpes simplex virus 1, or HSV 1, mostly shows up as painful blisters around the mouth, commonly referred to as "cold sores," but it can also infect the genital region, according to Jerome.
"These are really common. I mean over half the people in the world have one or the other or both, so they're very common infections," Jerome said.
According to the latest available data from the World Health Organization, 3.7 billion people under age 50 worldwide have HSV 1. An estimated 491 million people between age 15 and 49, have herpes simplex 2, or HSV 2, the virus that causes genital herpes infections.
While there are existing and effective anti-viral herpes treatments available today, Jerome said they don't solve the problem. He said the herpes virus, in particular, buries itself deep into nerve cells and can go dormant.
"The viruses hang out there in the form that stays for life," Jerome said.
So while anti-virals are at-the-moment treatments, there has not yet been an outright cure.
"That long-lived form in the nerves is not even touched. So it can always come back and always start new episodes," Jerome said.
Jerome and his team believe they're on their way to finding a cure by way of gene therapy to get rid of herpes infection for good.
Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications in May, showed they were able to eliminate at least 90 percent of the virus from nerves in animal testing models.
"What we're doing with our gene therapy is actually sending a protein into those nerve cells that actually looks for the virus and basically snips it just like scissors, cuts it in a couple of places, and the body recognizes, it suddenly can see that, and gets rid of it.
The gene therapy also significantly lowered the frequency and amount of viral shedding in animal testing and worked as effectively, if not more, for genital HSV 1 infections, according to Jerome.
"And that's the late, long-lived form we're actually getting rid of," Jerome said.
It's a long sought-after cure, not only because of its prevalence but the stress, even stigma, it causes.
"For some people, it is not a big deal. For other people, it's an enormous deal. And that's each person's lived experience. What we want to do is offer a tool that says if this really matters to you, we can help make your life better," Jerome said.
While the pre-clinical phase showed promising results, the gene therapy has yet to enter clinical trials and is not available as a treatment now.
If approved, Jerome sees the treatment administered as an injection.
Seattle virologists find promising new results for potential herpes cure: HealthLink
Fred Hutch Cancer Center is researching gene therapy as a method to target herpes simplex virus infections