We aim to continue uncovering the factors behind spontaneous #HIV control, in so-called elite controllers, in order to identify targets and design therapies that will enable the majority of people with HIV to control the virus without the need of antiretrovirals

I would also like to express my gratitude for the invaluable collaboration of Adhara Sevilla Checkpoint and
BCN Checkpoint, who will participate in disseminating the project's results.

Thanks to the research team at @ibis-investigacion.bsky.social, Xu Yu and Mathias Lichterfeld from the @ragoninstitute.bsky.social, MIT and Harvard, Julià Blanco and the @irsicaixa.es; and Anna Rull, Paco Vidal, and the team from Joan XXIII and the IIS Pere Virgili.

4/4
Our findings reveal a cooperative network between pDCs, CD141+ mDCs, and CD8+ T cells in lymphoid tissue during HIV infection.
This crosstalk may boost immune control of HIV and supports DC-based immunotherapies as a promising strategy.
#HIV #Immunotherapy #DCresearch

3/4
When we co-cultured TLR-primed pDCs and CD141+ mDCs with CD8+ T cells, we observed stronger and more polyfunctional responses to both superantigens and HIV.
Blocking PD-1 with pembrolizumab enhanced these responses even further.

2/4
In lymph nodes from people living with HIV, we found that pDCs and CD141+ mDCs physically interact with CD8+ T cells — and that these interactions correlate with HIV levels in both blood and tissue.
This suggests a direct role in viral control.

1/4
Using flow cytometry, we suspected an interaction among plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), CD141+ myeloid DCs (mDCs), and CD8+ T cells — and that the PD-1/PD-L1 axis played a key role in antiviral function.
So we turned to the tissue morphology for answers.