Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Corresponding Author and Lead Contact: Dr. Antiretroviral therapy ART suppresses viral replication in HIV-infected individuals, but does not eliminate the reservoir of latently infected cells.
HIV persists in T follicular-helper cells within the lymph node during antiretroviral therapy, but decays with time. McGary et al. Despite this success, HIV-infected individuals must remain on ART for their lifetime due to the persistence of latently infected cells containing transcriptionally silent, integrated provirus, which allows them to evade immune detection Chun et al.
A fraction of these latently infected cells contain proviruses that are replication competent, constituting the latent viral reservoir that is responsible for the rebound of viremia upon treatment interruption Chun et al. Therefore, strategies that target and eliminate latently infected cells are critically needed to achieve a functional cure for HIV. Identifying cellular subsets that preferentially harbor proviral DNA may facilitate the specific targeting of latent reservoirs.
Recently, Banga et al. Consistent with this model, Fromentin et al. As such, CTLA-4 should be considered as an additional target when designing immunotherapies aimed at purging the viral reservoir. RKa13 experienced rapid disease progression and was euthanized ten days into ART.
Consistent with HIV-infected humans Autran et al. The efficacy of ART in suppressing viral replication was also evident in tissues, with a A Study design. Ten RMs were infected i. All animals were maintained on ART regimen until plasma viremia was undetectable for at least 3 months. Peripheral blood WB , rectal biopsy Gut , and lymph node LN biopsies were collected at the indicated time points and multiple organs were harvested at elective necropsy.
