One of the primary mysteries of the AIDS epidemic – why the immune system is unable to control HIV infection – may have been solved by an international research collaborative. In an upcoming issue of Nature, the team reports how a molecular pathway involved in the immune cell “exhaustion” that characterizes several other chronic viral infections plays a similar role in HIV infection. They also found that blocking the pathway restores some function to HIV-specific CD8 and CD4 T cells. The paper from researchers at the Partners AIDS Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa, and other institutions has received early online publication. >>> Discuss This Story
