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Updated: May 13, 2026

A Restriction Enzyme Based Cloning Method to Assess the In vitro Replication Capacity of HIV-1 Subtype C Gag-MJ4 Chimeric Viruses
Published on: August 31, 2014
Immune control of HIV-1 reservoirs
Brigitte Autran1, Benjamin Descours, Charline Bacchus
1Laboratory Immunity and Infection, UMR-S 945 UPMC-INSERM, University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. brigitte.autran@psl.aphp.fr
Purpose Of Review:
To discuss the recent major advances in the understanding of how host immune defenses contribute to HIV reservoir control.
Recent Findings:
Immune control of HIV-1 reservoirs is a two-step process: viral replication activation from latent reservoirs followed by elimination of virus-expressing cells by the host. Environmental factors, such as pro-inflammatory type-I interferon, chemokines or cytokines, can facilitate HIV-1 replication, confer dormancy in CD4 cells or confer resistance to cytopathogenic effects of cytotoxic CD8 T cells. Therefore, they constitute a double-edged sword for immune control of HIV reservoirs. Concomitantly, adaptive immunity takes advantage of CD4 T-cell homeostatic mechanisms and can expose HIV-1 antigen-expressing cells to HIV-specific cytotoxic CD8 T cells, and limit virus spreading. These highly interconnected phenomena can lead to quasi-equilibrium between the HIV-1 reservoirs and host immune control that can serve as a model for the 'shock and kill' immune-based therapeutic strategies in play in the course of finding an HIV cure.
Summary:
Immune control of HIV reservoirs in CD4 T cells involves modulation of both HIV-1 latency and the continuous reseeding of the reservoir offering conceptual models that may advance HIV cure strategies.
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