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HIV's gut feeling

Nature Immunology volume 9, pages 225–227 (2008)Cite this article

Human immunodeficiency virus may direct its assault on gut-associated CD4+ T cells by means of the gut-homing integrin α4β7.

Findings by several groups have shown that human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in man, and its relative simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in experimentally infected monkeys, destroys most CD4+ T cells of gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), leaving a damaged and compromised tissue in its wake1,2. The potentially irreversible loss of immune and structural integrity at this site may then allow translocation of bacteria and their products, resulting in nonspecific systemic immune activation and lymphocyte activation–induced T cell death3. Although this picture has become clearer over time, several important issues remain, including the question of what attracts the virus to GALT in the first place. In this issue of Nature Immunology, Arthos and colleagues now propose to have found a new piece of the puzzle by demonstrating that HIV-1 binds to a receptor, the integrin α4β7, that is 'preferentially' expressed on gut CD4+ T cells4.

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Figure 1: A model for an α4β7-mediated increase in the efficiency of HIV-1 spread in GALT.

Katie Ris-Vicari

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  1. Quentin Sattentau is with the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX13RE, UK

    Quentin Sattentau

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  1. Quentin Sattentau
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Sattentau, Q. HIV's gut feeling. Nat Immunol 9, 225–227 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni0308-225

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