December 1st is the World AIDS Day
Forty years after the discovery of the virus responsible for AIDS, an estimated 39 million people worldwide are living with HIV. While antiretroviral treatment is currently the best therapeutic alternative, antivirals do not eradicate the virus due the establishment of viral reservoirs and long-term immunological dysfunctions may occur.
Directed by Dr Fernando Real, The CVI "Chronicity of Viral Infections" team based at the CIIL is studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms linked to the persistence of HIV in myeloid cells, in particular macrophages, but also megakaryocytes (platelet-producing cells) and its haematopoietic progenitors residing in the bone marrow.
By investing in bone marrow, the CVI team is investigating the mechanisms of pathogenesis and persistence of HIV, promising research that could open up new therapeutic avenues for treating or eradicating HIV infection.
