Research News 4
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Mimicking CD4: A Bait and Switch Approach to Immunotherapy
This month we focus on another form of immunotherapy, also with the potential to facilitate eradication of HIV reservoirs as part of an HIV cure strategy.
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CAR Cells, Revved Up
hen sought to determine if those cells could be enhanced with improvements on three fronts: 1) an increased ability to differentiate into mature, HIV-fighting cells; 2) enhanced resistance to infection and destruction by HIV; and 3) with improved anti-HIV capabilities.
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HIV Research: Paving the Way to COVID Vaccines
The extraordinarily rapid development of these COVID vaccines…was possible because the foundational work had already been done – by AIDS researchers.
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Risks and Potential Benefits of Participating in Cure Research
Perceptions of cure trial participants concerning personal and community risks and benefits are relevant to such studies and have received little attention.
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Immunotherapy Targeting HIV Reservoirs
Research Question CAR T cell therapy, which uses T cells that have been engineered to target specific proteins, has revolutionized the treatment of some blood cancers. Yet success in HIV has lagged and several challenges remain. For example, how can we ensure that the CAR T cells go to the areas where they are needed? […]
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Remembering Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, Early Pioneer on AIDS
Dr. Sonnabend was a co-founder of the AIDS Medical Foundation, amfAR’s predecessor.
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Prospects for an HIV/AIDS Cure: Opinions of People with HIV and Their Healthcare Providers
The authors concluded that educational strategies tailored specifically to each group are required to increase understanding of HIV cure research and the role of ATI.
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Mining the Blood for Markers of the Reservoir
The authors concluded that “the development of these tools may represent simple biomarkers for the rapid evaluation of changes in viral replication outside of the blood and changes in the reservoir size.”
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HIV Reservoirs in the Blood and Gut Respond Differently to Virus Activators
The authors conclude that “it will be critical to evaluate the efficacy of LRAs in both blood and tissues” in order to develop more effective therapeutics in HIV cure strategies.
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The Past, Present, and Future of HIV Reservoir Cells
Research Question The HIV reservoir consists of HIV-infected cells that are difficult to characterize because to date they have been indistinguishable from uninfected cells. Once the HIV inside infected cells is activated, many of the surface and interior characteristics change. While activated reservoir cells are easier to identify and isolate from blood samples, these fundamental […]
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A Conversation with the San Francisco Patient
Loreen Willenberg is an elite controller (EC) – one of the rare individuals who control HIV infection without antiretroviral therapy. ECs were recently described in new and unprecedented detail in the prestigious journal Nature. Loreen was among the ECs the researchers studied. For all intents and purposes, she may be considered “cured” of HIV. Loreen […]
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Molecular Pathways to an HIV Cure
The authors concluded that the differences they identified “could provide the HIV cure field with vital biological clues into the molecular pathways involved in viral persistence.”
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New Study Takes Deep Dive into Elite Control
Armed with this new vision of what one kind of cure might look like, researchers will now aim to induce the immune systems of non-controllers to bring about the same result.
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Research Update: Pioneering Clinical Trial Gets Underway
A unique and potentially groundbreaking clinical trial led by researchers at the amfAR Institute for HIV Cure Research is underway. The first participant received the first injection on August 13. The study will test a combination of agents in an effort to induce post-treatment control in people living with HIV. The complex, multi-stage trial is […]