In the January 3 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Roger Pomerantz, Giuseppe Nunnari, and colleagues from Thomas Jefferson University demonstrate that the growth factor IL-7 is a unique, potent, and strain-specific inducer of latent HIV-1 activation in infected individuals on virally suppressive HAART. IL-7, a molecule that promotes the growth and activation of B and T cells, was shown to also stimulate HIV-1 activation from resting T cells in order to deplete pools of HIV-1–infected cells. The authors show that a distinct viral species is activated by IL-7, and suggest that different molecules may deplete only a specific proportion of the latent HIV-1 population in individuals on HAART. IL-7 could potentially be combined with other molecules to potentially delete reservoirs of HIV-1 in new antiretroviral approaches.
TITLE: IL-7 is a potent and proviral strain-specific inducer of latent HIV-1 cellular reservoirs of infected individuals on virally suppressive HAART
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Roger Pomerantz
Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Phone: 215-503-8575; Fax: 215-503-2624; E-mail: Roger.J.Pomerantz@jefferson.edu.
A PDF of this article this article is available at: http://www.jci.org/cgi/content/full/115/1/128.
Journal
Journal of Clinical Investigation