HIV-1-Specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells Fail To Recognize and Eliminate the Follicular Dendritic Cell HIV Reservoir In Vitro

Abstract

Efforts to cure HIV infection have focused primarily on the elimination of latently infected CD4 + T cells. Few studies have addressed the unique reservoir of infectious HIV that exists on follicular dendritic cells (FDCs), persists in vivo during antiretroviral therapy, and likely contributes to viral rebound upon cessation of antiretroviral therapy. We assessed the efficacy of a novel HIV-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell to target both HIV-infected CD4 + T cells and the FDC reservoir in vitro . Although CAR-T cells eliminated CD4 + T cells that express HIV, they did not respond to or eliminate FDC bound to HIV. These findings reveal a fundamental limitation to CAR-T cell therapy to eradicate HIV.