Immunological strategies to target HIV persistence

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Virology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) establishes a latent reservoir early in infection.
• This latent reservoir is undetectable to the immune system and persists long-term.
• Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) controls viral replication but cannot eliminate the latent reservoir.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advances in immunotherapeutic approaches for reducing the latent HIV reservoir.
• To discuss strategies targeting latently HIV-1-infected cells for reservoir reduction.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent studies on immunotherapeutic interventions.
• Analysis of approaches combining latency reversing agents with immunotherapy.
• Examination of strategies enhancing T-cell immunity, innate immunity, and virus-specific antibodies.

Main Results:

• Emerging immunotherapeutic strategies aim to reduce the latent HIV-1 reservoir.
• These include enhancing CD8 T-cell and natural killer cell responses.
• Development of strategies using antiviral antibodies and immunomodulatory molecules.

Conclusions:

• Improved understanding of HIV-1 immune evasion facilitates new reservoir-targeting strategies.
• Immunotherapy shows promise in combination with latency-reversing agents.
• Harnessing immune effector cells and antibodies is key to targeting HIV-1 persistence.