Viral Reservoir
 

HIV-1 can cause a latent or a lytic infection of host cells.

While lytically infected cells actively produce HIV-1 particles and thus contribute to the extent of HIV-1 viremia, latently infected cells provide a silent reservoir for HIV-1 that is protected against currently available antiretroviral drugs and HIV-1-specific immune responses.This reservoir therefore represents the major barrier to eradicating the infection.

Understanding the mechanisms that contribute to the establishment and maintenance of this silent reservoir, therefore, represents a critical aspect for the development of treatment modalities to cure HIV-1 infection. In particular, the following questions are currently unclear:

  1) what cells in tissue compartments constitute this reservoir in patients with various disease outcomes;
  2) how do specific genetic and/or immunoregulatory host restriction factors contribute to the formation of this reservoir;
  3) how this reservoir is influenced by novel forms of anti-retroviral therapy, such as integrase inhibitors. 

Laboratories which focus on Viral Reservoir:
Yu Lab