A commentary of “‘Shock and Kill’ of Latent HIV” : 10 remarkable discoveries from 2020 in Nature

HIV, the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), can integrate into the genome of host cells and form latent reservoirs, making it undetectable by the immune system. Two studies published in Nature in January 2020 reported a ‘shock and kill’ strategy that aimed to activate the transcription of the latent reservoirs and render infected cells vulnerable to elimination by the immune system. Both study groups described interventions that were the most effective activation to date and were also reproducible. Nixon et al. used a drug called AZD5582 to activate the transcription of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), a major inducer of HIV-1 gene expression [1] McBrien et al. combined two immunological interventions by first depleting CD8 T cells (immune cells that reduce the level of viral transcription) followed by treatment with a drug called N-803, which activated HIV-1 transcription [2]. In addition to these advances, these two studies also demonstrated the conceptual and technical challenges of pharmacological latency reversal.①①Original source in Chinese: L. Zhang, Y. Li, “Shock and Kill” of Latent HIV, Bulletin of National Natural Science Foundation of China. 35 (2) (2021) 241-242