NYC Gazette

Mount Sinai researchers have made progress in the fight against HIV by developing a method to identify immune cells that harbor the virus. This discovery, published in Nature Communications on March 6, could lead to new approaches for eliminating dormant HIV-infected cells and potentially curing the infection.

HIV weakens the immune system by attacking its cells. While antiretroviral therapies can control the virus's spread, they do not cure it. The Mount Sinai team has created a cell lineage-tracing model to locate where HIV hides and developed genetic profiles of T cells, which are essential for immune response and can carry either active or inactive HIV.

"The main obstacle to cure the infection is the virus hides in immune cells that are difficult to identify and study. If we can identify the cells infected with HIV, it will help bring us closer to figuring out how to eliminate them," said Benjamin K. Chen, MD, PhD, from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The researchers used humanized mice models and developed a fluorescent switch triggered by HIV infection. This switch marks infected cells permanently, allowing for lineage tracing of the infection. They profiled over 47,000 T cells and identified nine distinct types housing inactive HIV.

Their findings suggest potential new therapies targeting dormant HIV-infected cell reservoirs as a possible cure. The team plans further studies to reactivate dormant HIV and reduce infected cell reservoirs.

The study received support from several grants including those from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and National Institutes of Health.