A recent study by researchers at the George Washington University (GW) found that latent HIV reservoirs show resistance to CD8+ T-cells, a type of white blood cell whose primary function is to kill infected cells.
According to Brad Jones, PhD, primary author of the study and assistant professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, researchers have identified a barrier.
It is difficult to understand the nature of that barrier, they used the most powerful combinations against these cells, and when the dust settled they found that the virus was present at just as high levels as what was started with.
HIV/AIDS treatment currently includes lifelong, antiretroviral therapy while the search for a cure continues. Persistent, latent reservoirs of the virus make efforts to cure infection difficult. In order to eradicate those HIV reservoirs, researchers must find a way to eliminate persistent populations of cells with integrated HIV proviruses.
The paradigm is aimed at combining latency reversing agents (LRA) with immune effectors, such as T-cells, to wake up the virus and kill the reactivated cells.The study found that latent HIV reservoirs exhibit inherent resistance to CD8+ T-cells.
The team conducted their research using the CD8+ T-cells of people living with HIV, in the combination with LRAs to attack and kill the infected cells. The results suggest that cells infected by replication-competent HIV possess inherent resistance to the T-cells, which present an obstacle on the road to curing HIV.
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