The selected few: Mechanisms of HIV-1 reservoir persistence.

HIV-1 reservoir cells are more visible and vulnerable to immune responses than previously thought, challenging the traditional latency model of persistence.

• Why it matters: Understanding how the HIV-1 reservoir persists is crucial because it remains the main obstacle to curing HIV, despite effective antiretroviral therapy.
• What they did: The review synthesizes recent insights into viral and host mechanisms, focusing on proviral transcription, immune interactions, cell survival programs, and microenvironmental factors that sustain infected cells.
• The result: A deeper mechanistic understanding of these vulnerabilities suggests that strategies targeting infected cell stability, beyond latency reversal, could enable durable remission or cure.