A specific protein in the body may be the key to overcoming the increasing problem of resistance to HIV drugs.
Inactivating the ITK protein which is involved in the immune response blocks many steps of HIV replication, studies in the laboratory show.
Most current HIV drugs attack the virus itself which is liable to mutate and become resistant to treatment.
HIV experts said the results were promising but any drug would take a long time to get to the clinic.
ITK is involved in activating a type of immune cell called a T cell in the presence of infection.
ITK had an effect on HIV replication at several stages which if you add them up seems to be a profound effect
HIV works by infecting T cells, taking them over so they can replicate and create large quantities of the virus, compromising the whole immune system.
The team at the US National Institutes of Health realised that many of the pathways regulated by ITK were also needed for HIV to take hold in the body.
Tests in human cells in the laboratory showed that removing or inactivating ITK could, as predicted, block many different steps in the ability of HIV to enter a cell, spread and replicate, the study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed.