The Surprising Culprit for HIV Persistence During Therapy

Reducing the population size of this "reservoir" of infected cells represents the largest challenge for the cure of HIV. Based on these results, study authors believe reducing cellular proliferation could help to deplete the reservoir and potentially lead to a functional cure. Led by Drs. Dan Reeves and Josh Schiffer in the Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the research team combined mathematical models and immunological insight to understand how the genetic signature of HIV-infected cells could explain their origin. "Our approach was inspired by ecology," said Dr. Reeves, the study's first author and research associate in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at Fred Hutch. "We adapted tools to characterize the reservoir of HIV-infected cells more realistically, inferring the mechanism of generation from the proportions of unique and identical genetic signatures."