Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
FDC, HAART, HIV reservoir, CD4+ T cells, AIDS
College
Life Sciences
Department
Microbiology and Molecular Biology
Abstract
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the retrovirus that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), has infected over 60 million people and become what the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS calls: “the most devastating disease mankind has ever faced” (8). Current treatment, known as HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy), is able to reduce HIV in the blood to undetectable levels but it cannot completely block replication nor remove HIV from the body. When patients stop taking HAART, their viral load (the quantity of virus detected in their blood) and symptoms quickly return to pretreatment levels. This viral rebound is caused by latent virus that persists in reservoirs that are untouched by the drugs. These reservoirs harbor and protect HIV throughout infection and reignite infection once HAART is terminated.
Recommended Citation
Burgon, Trever Bradley and Burton, Dr. Gregory F.
(2014)
"FDC as an HIV Reservoir: DNA Sequence Analysis of HIV Isolated from FDC and CD4+ T Cells of Infected Patient,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014:
Iss.
1, Article 844.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/844