Context

In HIV patients, after ART (anti-retroviral therapies) treatment is stopped, even for patients with long-time period treatment, a systematic viral rebound is observed. This viral rebound is due to an archived variant. Different cell types are involved in the viral persistence with CD4 T cells being the most important contributors. Today, finding ways to target and destroy latent reservoirs is a major challenge facing HIV researchers. Researchers are exploring different strategies and the identification of specific markers of this reservoir should facilitate the detection of persistently infected cells in patients' samples and in animal models, and represent potential targets for elimination of these cells.

Benefits

The research team has explored biomarkers and identified 2 main biomarkers at the surface of CD4 T cells infected, differentiating latently infected cells from their non-infected counterparts. The project aims at developing tools (for diagnostic and therapy) allowing direct targeting of the reservoirs using the identified biomarkers.

Applications

HIV-1 infection