New model to study HIV latency in brain cells

Neuherberg -Over 35 million people worldwide are currently infected by HIV. Antiviral therapies can keep the virus from multiplying. However, no drug can cure infection so far, because various cell types continue to carry the virus in a latent, i.e. quiescent, state. Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München have now established a model for latent HIV infection of brain cells. The researchers used this model to identify various compounds that affect latency of the virus in the brain.