Eliminating HIV's Latent Reservoir

A new study suggests that a genetic switch that causes latent HIV inside cells to begin to replicate can be manipulated to completely eradicate the virus from the human body. Cells harboring latent HIV are “invisible” to the natural defenses of the immune system. The findings, which suggest a cure for HIV may be possible, are reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
During infection, the DNA of HIV makes its way into the host cell’s nucleus and integrates itself into the host genome. The Tat gene circuit is a key piece of HIV DNA that controls the HIV gene transcription and activation. When activated, it initiates a takeover of the cell’s machinery to churn out new copies of the HIV virus, which eventually burst from the cell and infect neighboring cells. HIV-specific immune effector cells kill cells infected with HIV, but only when the cells are being used to produce more of the virus, meaning that the Tat gene circuit is switched on. In cells that are latently infected, the Tat gene circuit is off, and the cell goes about its normal business all the while harboring quiescent HIV.