Rapamycin Enhances CAR-T Control of HIV Replication and Reservoir Elimination in vivo.

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy shows promise for various diseases. Our studies in humanized mice and non-human primates (NHPs) demonstrate that hematopoietic stem cell (HSCs) modified with anti-HIV CAR achieve lifelong engraftment, providing functional anti-viral CAR-T cells that reduce viral rebound after ART withdrawal. However, T cell exhaustion due to chronic immune activation remains a key obstacle for sustained CAR-T efficacy, necessitating additional measures to achieve functional cure.

Examining Chronic Inflammation, Immune Metabolism, and T Cell Dysfunction in HIV Infection.

Chronic Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection remains a significant challenge to global public health. Despite advances in antiretroviral therapy (ART), which has transformed HIV infection from a fatal disease into a manageable chronic condition, a definitive cure remains elusive. One of the key features of HIV infection is chronic immune activation and inflammation, which are strongly associated with, and predictive of, HIV disease progression, even in patients successfully treated with suppressive ART.