Viral reservoirs articles from across Nature Portfolio

A novel in vitro latency model (HIV-Tocky) suggests the multi-layered nature of HIV-1 post-integration latency at which latent proviruses with a history of expression showed features of stable latency in contrary to these lacking a history of expression.

Finding a cure for HIV-1 infection, once considered elusive, now represents a major priority for the global microbiology research community. In this article, Armani-Tourret, Lichterfeld and colleagues highlight recent advances in understanding immunological vulnerabilities of virally infected cells that persist lifelong and represent the major barrier to a cure.

Pangolins are a potential reservoir for viruses with cross-species infection potential. Here, the authors characterize a HKU4-related coronavirus isolated from pangolin and demonstrate its ability to infect human cell lines as well as its potential to infect transgenic mice expressing the human receptor DPP4.

The ecology of Ebola virus (EBOV) is still largely unclear. Here, the authors show that Angolan freetailed bats are selectively permissive to EBOV infection, but not to other filoviruses, and demonstrate EBOV placental tissue tropism indicating potential horizontal and vertical transmission between conspecifics.

In this study, Armani-Tourret et al. show that the combination of panobinostat and pegylated interferon-α2a transforms the structure and composition of the HIV-1 reservoir and could potentially counter it.

In a person living with with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the recruitment of CD4⁺ T cells that recognize a co-pathogen in the central nervous system (CNS) resulted in localized inflammation and sparked HIV replication in the presence of suboptimal CNS anti-retroviral levels, leading to systemic virological failure. This case highlights the importance of considering inflammation and co-infection in HIV remission strategies.

We describe a 53-year-old man with HIV-1 who received allogeneic CCR5Δ32/Δ32 hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in 2013 to treat acute myeloid leukemia. Four years after analytic treatment interruption (ATI), the absence of viral rebound and the lack of immunological correlates of HIV-1 antigen persistence provide convincing evidence for HIV-1 cure.

Rebound virus in the cerebrospinal fluid revealed viral lineages selected for growth in T cells that were clonally amplified and often distinct from the majority of rebound viral lineages in the blood.

Cytotoxic CD8⁺ T cells reduce the average lifespan of productively infected cells during acute simian immunodeficiency virus infection (a primate model of human immunodeficiency virus infection). However, they are ineffective at preventing the establishment of a persistent reservoir of latently infected cells under long-term antiretroviral therapy.

This study reports the identification of a highly divergent lineage of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer and provides evidence of deer-to-human transmission.