Strategies to eradicate HIV from infected patients: elimination of latent provirus reservoirs.

Strategies to eradicate HIV from infected patients: elimination of latent provirus reservoirs. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2019 May 25;: Authors: Sadowski I, Hashemi FB Abstract 35 years since identification of HIV as the causative agent of AIDS, and 35 million deaths associated with this disease, significant effort is now directed towards the development of potential cures. Current anti-retroviral (ART) therapies for HIV/AIDS can suppress virus replication to undetectable levels, and infected individuals can live symptom free so long as treatment is maintained. However, removal of therapy allows rapid re-emergence of virus from a highly stable reservoir of latently infected cells that exist as a barrier to elimination of the infection with current ART. Prospects of a cure for HIV infection are significantly encouraged by two serendipitous cases where individuals have entered remission following stem cell transplantation from compatible HIV-resistant donors. However, development of a routine cure that could become available to millions of infected individuals will require a means of specifically purging cells harboring latent HIV, preventing replication of latent provirus, or destruction of provirus genomes by gene editing. Elimination of latently infected cells will require a means of exposing this population, which may involve identification of a natural specific biomarker or therapeutic intervention to force their exposure by reactivation...
Source: Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences : CMLS - Category: Cytology Authors: Tags: Cell Mol Life Sci Source Type: research