Extraordinary IImmune Cells May Hold The Key To Managing HIV

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2008) — People who manage to control HIV on their own are providing scientists with valuable information about how the immune system eliminates virus-infected cells. A new study identifies specific characteristics of the immune cells that successfully destroy HIV-infected cells and may drive strategies for developing the next generation of HIV vaccines and therapies.

Long-term nonprogressors (LTNPs) or elite controllers are rare individuals who are able to contain HIV for many years without any type of antiretroviral therapy. "Direct and indirect lines of evidence in humans and animal models suggest that virus-specific immune cells, called CD8+ T cells, mediate this control. However, the mechanisms by which this occurs remain unknown," says senior study author Dr. Mark Connors from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in Bethesda, Maryland.

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