Editor's Summary
28 April 2005
HIV: stop it in its tracks
Two papers in this issue shed light on the early stages of HIV infection. HIV gradually infects and destroys disease-fighting CD4+ T cells in the blood, but also causes loss of CD4+ T cells from mucosal surfaces such as the gut in the initial infection phase. Studies in monkeys infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) now show that the virus infects and kills memory CD4+ T cells, a T-cell subset responsible for remembering previous infections. Mattapallil et al. found that SIV infects about 50% of memory CD4+ T cells within days of infection. Li et al. show that as well as killing by direct infection, the virus triggers uninfected cells to self-destruct via apoptosis. These findings have clinical implications, stressing the need to reduce viral load at the early stage of infection.
News and Views: HIV: Viral blitzkrieg
It takes years for AIDS to develop from the damage inflicted on the immune system by HIV or its simian counterpart. Surprisingly, as many as half of the body's memory T cells may die at a very early stage of infection.
R. Paul Johnson and Amitinder Kaur
doi: 10.1038/4341080a
Article: Massive infection and loss of memory CD4+ T cells in multiple tissues during acute SIV infection
Joseph J. Mattapallil, Daniel C. Douek, Brenna Hill, Yoshiaki Nishimura, Malcolm Martin and Mario Roederer
doi: 10.1038/nature03501
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (422K)
Letter: Peak SIV replication in resting memory CD4+ T cells depletes gut lamina propria CD4+ T cells
Qingsheng Li, Lijie Duan, Jacob D. Estes, Zhong-Min Ma, Tracy Rourke, Yichuan Wang, Cavan Reilly, John Carlis, Christopher J. Miller and Ashley T. Haase
doi: 10.1038/nature03513