May 20, 2016
Bulletin interne de l'Institut Pasteur
HIV: Identification of key immune response receptors in patients spontaneously controlling infection
A small number of patients infected by HIV spontaneously control viral replication without antiretroviral therapy, and do not develop the disease. The ability of these rare patients, known as "HIV controllers", to suppress HIV replication appears to be down to a highly effective immune response. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm observed that CD4+ T immune cells in these patients, recruited from the ANRS CO21 CODEX cohort, were capable of recognizing tiny quantities of the virus. This highly sensitive detection is dependent on the expression of specific T cell receptors on the surface of immune cells, which target the HIV capsid protein with high affinity. The preferential expression of these receptors appears to keep the immune system on a constant state of alert, thereby enabling the patients to control HIV. These findings have been published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.