Efforts to eliminate the latent reservoir in resting CD4+ T cells: strategies for curing HIV-1 infection

Ya-Chi Ho; Janet D Siliciano

doi:10.1016/S2055-6640(20)30932-8

Efforts to eliminate the latent reservoir in resting CD4+ T cells: strategies for curing HIV-1 infection

J Virus Erad. 2015 Oct 1;1(4):229-31. doi: 10.1016/S2055-6640(20)30932-8.

Authors

Ya-Chi Ho¹, Janet D Siliciano¹

Affiliation

¹ Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine , Baltimore , USA.

Abstract

Since the introduction of the first antiretroviral drug, zidovudine, in 1987, over 25 different antiretroviral agents from six different drug classes have been approved for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. Today, combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) is extremely effective in suppressing HIV-1 replication, providing durable control of the virus in adherent patients. However, despite the effectiveness of ART in blocking viral replication, HIV-1 infection cannot be cured by ART alone because HIV-1 establishes a state of latent infection in a small pool of resting, memory CD4+ T cells. Some new developments in the search for a cure are discussed.

Keywords: HIV-1; cure; latent reservoir; memory CD4+ T cells; resting.