Autophagy as a Cell-Autonomous Defense to Eliminate HIV

Vojo Deretic of the University of New Mexico in the U.S. proposed that autophagy, a process by which cells destroy cellular components and intracellular pathogens, can be induced through drug therapy to not only destroy the HIV virus in infected cells, but also to block its transmission from dendritic cells to T cells. This project's Phase I research demonstrated that autophagy can destroy HIV, block dendritic to T cell transfer of HIV, and promote antigen presentation by dendritic cells. In Phase II, Deretic’s team will screen for compounds that can induce autophagy to block HIV from infecting cells, limit HIV spread, and enhance dendritic cell immune functions.