By Jim Kling
Original Publication
The Scientist 15[10]:17, May 14, 2001
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Evidence suggests that a decrease in CD4 + T cells is not a death sentence
For this article, Jim Kling interviewed Louis J. Picker, associate director of the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute at the Oregon Health Sciences University. Data from the Web of Science (ISI, Philadelphia) show that Hot Papers are cited 50 to 100 times more often than the average paper of the same type and age.
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The researchers continue to investigate the role of HIV-specific CD4+ cells in controlling infection, and whether they contribute to infection. HIV-specific CD4+ T cells are targets of the virus, says Picker, and it is possible that having more of them just gives the virus more activated T cells to attack. "We have moved to a nonhuman primate model (SIV) to assess this question...; this model allows us to look at very early events during infection."
References
E.S. Rosenberg et al., "Vigorous HIV-1-specific CD4+ T cell responses associated with control of viremia," Science, 278:1447-50, 1997.
L.J. Picker and V.C. Maino, "The CD4+ T cell response to HIV-1,"
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