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Nature Medicine 13, 1413 - 1415 (2007)
doi:10.1038/nm1207-1413

Dying T cells trigger autoimmunity in HIV

Sarah Rowland-Jones1,2 & Tao Dong1

  1. Sarah Rowland-Jones and Tao Dong are in the Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK.
  2. Sarah Rowland-Jones is also at the MRC Laboratories, PO Box 273, The Gambia, West Africa. e-mail: sarah.rowland-jones@ndm.ox.ac.uk


During HIV-1 infection, there are many ways for CD4+ T cells to die. New findings suggest that an autoimmune mechanism may come into play (pages 1431–1439).


The death of CD4+ T helper cells is a hallmark of HIV-1 infection, but the factors that contribute to this death are still being uncovered. In this issue, Rawson et al.1 discover a new mechanism: it seems that dying CD4+ T helper cells release protein fragments that prompt the formation of autoreactive CD8+ T cells.

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