HIV: how NK immune cells learn to control viral replication in a lymph node

New discoveries are providing us with key information about the mechanisms that enable some immunity cells, known as NK (natural killer) cells, to kill cells infected with SIV, the equivalent of HIV in primates.

A research team led by Michaela Müller-Trutwin at the Institut Pasteur has demonstrated how NK cells responsible for immune surveillance successfully control viral replication in some monkey species with a non-pathogenic form of infection. This phenomenon is based on the advanced differentiation of NK cells in these species, which would appear to enhance their ability to recognize and kill cells infected by the virus.

The results of the study, conducted by the Institut Pasteur and supported by the ANRS, the Jacqueline Beytout Foundation and the MSDAVENIR Foundation, were published in the journal Nature Communications.

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