Cholesterol metabolism in immune cells linked to HIV progression

Findings may lead to novel strategies to control HIV infection Lower levels of cholesterol in certain immune cells–a result of enhanced cholesterol metabolism within those cells–may help explain why some HIV-infected people are able to naturally control disease progression, according to research that will be presented in a poster at the 8th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2015) in Vancouver, Canada, and the pre-conference 2015 Towards an HIV Cure Symposium. The findings provide a basis for potential development of new approaches to control HIV infection by regulating cellular cholesterol metabolism. Immune cells known as antigen-presenting cells (APCs) can take up HIV particles and deliver intact, infectious virus to its primary target–T cells–through a replication-independent process known as trans infection. Scientists funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, found that APCs from nonprogressors–HIV-infected people whose disease does...