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Updated: Jul 1, 2025
Preparation and Use of HIV-1 Infected Primary CD4+ T-Cells as Target Cells in Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxic Assays
Published on: March 14, 2011
Harnessing natural killer cells to target HIV-1 persistence
Vinita R Joshi1, Marcus Altfeld2
1Department of Virus Immunology, Leibniz Institute of Virology.
Purpose Of Review:
The purpose of this article is to review recent advances in the role of natural killer (NK) cells in approaches aimed at reducing the latent HIV-1 reservoir.
Recent Findings:
Multiple approaches to eliminate cells harboring latent HIV-1 are being explored, but have been met with limited success so far. Recent studies have highlighted the role of NK cells and their potential in HIV-1 cure efforts. Anti-HIV-1 NK cell function can be optimized by enhancing NK cell activation, antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity, reversing inhibition of NK cells as well as by employing immunotherapeutic complexes to enable HIV-1 specificity of NK cells. While NK cells alone do not eliminate the HIV-1 reservoir, boosting NK cell function might complement other strategies involving T cell and B cell immunity towards an HIV-1 functional cure.
Summary:
Numerous studies focusing on targeting latently HIV-1-infected cells have emphasized a potential role of NK cells in these strategies. Our review highlights recent advances in harnessing NK cells in conjunction with latency reversal agents and other immunomodulatory therapeutics to target HIV-1 persistence.
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