Peering into the HIV reservoir

Rev Med Virol. 2018 Jul;28(4):e1981. doi: 10.1002/rmv.1981. Epub 2018 May 9.

Abstract

The main obstacle to HIV eradication is the establishment of a long-term persistent HIV reservoir. Although several therapeutic approaches have been developed to reduce and eventually eliminate the HIV reservoir, only a few have achieved promising results. A better knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the establishment and maintenance of HIV reservoir is of utmost relevance for the design of new therapeutic strategies aimed at purging it with the ultimate goal of achieving HIV eradication or alternatively a functional cure. In this regard, it is also important to take a close look into the cellular HIV reservoirs other than resting memory CD4 T-cells with key roles in reservoir maintenance that have been recently described. Unraveling the special characteristics of these HIV cellular compartments could aid us in designing new therapeutic strategies to deplete the latent HIV reservoir.

Keywords: HIV reservoir; T follicular helper cells; myeloid-derived cells; resting memory CD4 T cells; stem cell-like memory T cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Anti-HIV Agents / therapeutic use
  • Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active
  • CD4 Lymphocyte Count
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / metabolism
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / virology
  • HIV Infections / drug therapy
  • HIV Infections / immunology
  • HIV Infections / metabolism
  • HIV Infections / virology*
  • HIV-1 / physiology*
  • Histones / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Methylation
  • T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / metabolism
  • Viral Load
  • Virus Latency*
  • Virus Replication

Substances

  • Anti-HIV Agents
  • Histones