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HIV INFECTION

Targeting mitochondria to beat HIV-1

HIV-1 infection of CD4+ T cells triggers the interaction of the mitochondrial proteins NLRX1 and FASTKD5 to promote oxidative phosphorylation, leading to increased viral replication. It has now been shown that this process can be blocked by metformin.

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Fig. 1: HIV-1 infection increases the expression of NLRX1, which directly interacts with FASTKD5 to promote OXPHOS and viral replication.

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Correspondence to Luke A. J. O’Neill.

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Day, E.A., O’Neill, L.A.J. Targeting mitochondria to beat HIV-1. Nat Immunol 22, 398–399 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-021-00881-w

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