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AIDS pathogenesis: what have two decades of HIV research taught us?

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 3, pages 343–348 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

22 years ago, the first cases of an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome afflicting young, homosexual American men were reported, heralding what we now know to be the beginning of the HIV epidemic. Since then, billions of US dollars have been invested in HIV research in the hope of gaining a better understanding of this infection and how to prevent and treat it. What are the landmarks in HIV research over the past two decades, and what questions still remain to be answered? What has the intense study of HIV infection taught us about other virus infections and how our immune system responds to them?

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Figure 1: The sites of key events in the development of the HIV epidemic.
Figure 2: The extent of the worldwide HIV-1 epidemic.
Figure 3: Schematic diagram of the course of HIV-1 infection.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Andrew McMichael for critical review of the manuscript.

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  1. the MRC Human Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, OX3 0DW, Oxford, UK

    Sarah L. Rowland-Jones

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CCL3

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CCR5

CXCR4

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Rowland-Jones, S. AIDS pathogenesis: what have two decades of HIV research taught us?. Nat Rev Immunol 3, 343–348 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri1058

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