Ayyavoo Lab

Research focus

NIH R01 · 2024

Understanding the mechanisms involved in HIV-1 CNS latency

In people with HIV (PWH), infected cells persist in several tissue compartments, including brain and lymphoid organs, and can remain indefinitely during combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). This persistence is due to the ability of the virus to establish a state of latency in cells, where the proviral DNA remains transcriptionally silent for long periods. The central nervous system (CNS) is considered one of the viral reservoirs due to the blood-brain barrier, resulting in cellular compartmentalization and limited penetrability of some antiretroviral drugs. The primary cells that serve as reservoirs in the CNS compartment are microglia, macrophages, and astrocytes; however, very…

From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.