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Nature 410, 980-987 (19 April 2001) | doi:10.1038/35073658
review article Cellular immune responses to HIV
Andrew J. McMichael1 & Sarah L. Rowland-Jones1
Abstract
The cellular immune response to the human immunodeficiency virus, mediated by T lymphocytes, seems strong but fails to control the infection completely. In most virus infections, T cells either eliminate the virus or suppress it indefinitely as a harmless, persisting infection. But the human immunodeficiency virus undermines this control by infecting key immune cells, thereby impairing the response of both the infected CD4+ T cells and the uninfected CD8+ T cells. The failure of the latter to function efficiently facilitates the escape of virus from immune control and the collapse of the whole immune system.
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