TFC cells express CXCR5 to localize to B cell follicles.
New research has taken us a step closer to finding a cure for HIV, as well as other infections including the glandular fever virus, which is associated with the development of lymphoma. Some infections, such as HIV, cannot be cured with antiviral therapy because the virus effectively hides from the immune system.
An international team of scientists have discovered that killer T cells can find these “hidden” infected cells in tissue and destroy them. “We’ve shown for the first time that there are specialised killer T cells that can migrate into a part of the lymphoid tissue and control hidden infection,” Dr Yu said.
Although treatments for HIV with antiretroviral drugs are highly effective, treatment is lifelong and there is no cure. Other infections such as Epstein-Barr virus, the cause of glandular fever, may also hide and persist for many years, but become active when the immune system is compromised. The researchers discovered that these specialised killer T cells, follicular cytotoxic T cells, can enter hiding spots inside lymphoid tissue, where viruses can hide on treatment, ie B cell follicles. “This discovery will help us to design new therapies that could eventually treat many different infections, including HIV,” Mr Leong said.
Professor Sharon Lewin, the Director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, a joint venture of the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital said there were a few ways this discovery could be translated into a treatment for people with chronic infections. “We could potentially transfer these specialised super potent killer T cells into patients, or we could treat patients with proteins that can drag these specialised killer T-cells into the right spots, specifically to the hot spots where HIV can hide on antiviral treatment,” Professor Lewin said.
Dr Yu said he hoped human trials of such treatments would begin within the next 5 years. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-08/mu-bst080316.php
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