Can mesenchymal stem cells enhance the body’s immune response to HIV?

A team from the University of California, Davis (CA, USA) has discovered that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can reduce the amount of the virus causing AIDS, subsequently boosting the body’s antiviral immunity and repairing/restoring the gut’s lymphoid follicles damaged by the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). Published in JCI Insight, this study provides a roadmap for developing multi-pronged human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) eradication strategies. “Impaired immune functions in HIV infection and incomplete immune recovery pose obstacles for eradicating HIV,” commented senior author of the study, Satya Dandekar (University of California, Davis). “Our objective was to develop strategies to boost immunity against...