Why the immune system fails to kill HIV
Friday, July 18, 2014 - 15:31
in Health & Medicine
Our immune system contains CD8+ T cells which protect us from various diseases such as cancer and viruses. Some of them are specifically tasked with killing cells infected with the HIV virus – and researchers have for the first time identified a key explanation for why these cells are unsuccessful in their task. In simple terms, the immune system's ignition keys have not been turned all the way to the start position, which would enable the CD8+ T cells to kill the cells infected with HIV.