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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

High Throughput In Vitro Assessment of Latency Reversing Agents on HIV Transcription and Splicing
Published on: January 22, 2019
Reversal of HIV-1 latency with anti-microRNA inhibitors
1Center for Human Virology, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. hui.zhang@jefferson.edu
Abstract:
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) latency is achieved when host cells contain integrated proviral DNA but do not produce viral particles. The virus remains in resting CD4 T-lymphocytes, evading host immune surveillance and antiviral drugs. When resting cells are activated, infectious viral particles are produced. Latency is critical for the survival of all HIV-1 strains in vivo. Recently, it has been reported that a cluster of cellular microRNAs (miRNAs) enriched specifically in resting CD4+ T-cells suppresses translation of most HIV-1-encoded proteins in the cytoplasm, sustaining HIV-1 escape from the host immune response. Complementary antisense miRNA inhibitors block the inhibitory effect of miRNAs and drive viral production from the resting T-lymphocytes without activating the cells. Therefore, inhibition of these HIV-1-specific cellular miRNAs is of great therapeutic significance for eliminating the HIV-1 reservoir in HIV-1-infected individuals receiving suppressive highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
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