Elite controllers block integration of HIV DNA into host genome

Alone among those infected with HIV-1, so-called elite controllers spontaneously maintain undetectable levels of viral replication even absent the benefit of anti-retroviral therapy. Now Mathias Lichterfeld of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and Xu Yu of the Ragon Institute show that in elite controllers, integration of HIV-1 DNA into the host chromosomes of CD4 T cells—the main target cells of HIV-1 -- is markedly reduced in comparison to those whose infection has run a more normal course. “[Elite controllers] behave like people who get effective antiretroviral treatment, despite the fact that they don’t,” says Lichterfeld.

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