Cells that kill HIV-infected cells
A subpopulation of the immune cells targeted by HIV may play an important role in controlling viral loads after initial infection, potentially helping to determine how quickly infection will progress. In the Feb. 29 issue of Science Translational Medicine, a team of researchers from the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard describe finding a population of HIV-specific CD4 T cells — cells traditionally thought to direct and support activities of other immune cells — that can directly kill HIV-infected cells. “We observed the emergence of CD4 T cells able to kill HIV-infected cells in those patients who are able to control viral replication soon after acute infection,” says Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor of Medicine Hendrik Streeck, a Ragon Institute faculty member and senior author of the report. “These cells appear very early in HIV infection, and we believe they may set the stage for the course of the disease.” The...