HIV: two autopsies reveal where the virus hides

A small number of HIV-infected cells remain in the tissues of people living with the virus and who are undergoing antiretroviral therapy. These viral reservoirs, real obstacles to the cure of HIV, have long been known to exist. Until now, however, it wasn’t known which organs the virus prefers to hide in. A team from the Canadian HIV Cure Enterprise (CanCure) led by Université de Montréal immunology professor Nicolas Chomont, a researcher at the CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM), has succeeded in identifying these hidden places, opening the way to targeting them for future therapies. In a study published in the journal Cell Reports, the scientists reveal that genetically intact viruses, responsible for viral rebound if antiretroviral therapy is interrupted, are concentrated in the deep tissues of the spleen and lymph nodes, organs of the immune system. “We owe these results first and foremost to the generosity of two Canadian men (in Ottawa and Edmonton)...