CD4+ T cells and HIV: A paradoxical Pas de Deux
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Updated: May 24, 2026

Assessing the Innate Sensing of HIV-1 Infected CD4+ T Cells by Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Using an Ex vivo Co-culture System.
Published on: September 1, 2015
Nichole R Klatt1, Guido Silvestri
1Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Abstract:
When it comes to HIV infection, CD4(+) T cells are usually thought of as the cells that are preferentially infected and killed by the virus. In a new study, Soghoian et al. now show that during the early stages of HIV infection, CD4(+) T cells suppress virus replication and delay disease onset. Thus, the robustness of the CD4(+) T cell response during early HIV infection could be used as a marker to determine the speed of disease progression. The new findings also have implications for the design of preventive and therapeutic AIDS vaccines.
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