title: Caspase inhibitors as a supplement in immune activation therapies to achieve eradication of HIV in its latent reservoirs.
abstract: Synthetic caspase inhibitors are known to block death receptor-induced apoptosis. We have reported previously that in addition to apoptosis inhibition, caspase inhibitors induce a switch from proapoptotic to proinflammatory signaling in T cells. This switch sensitizes TNF-R1 to trigger TNF-alpha-induced reactivation of HIV in latently infected T cells. Here we ponder the prospects of caspase inhibitors as a supplement in immune activation therapies (IAT) to achieve eradication of HIV from the latent virus reservoirs in HIV-infected patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität, 97078 Würzburg, Germany. scheller@vim.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scheller
authors.forename: Sieghart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sopper
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koutsilieri
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ter Meulen
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jassoy
mesh_terms: D061945:Caspase Inhibitors; D002460:Cell Line; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006678:HIV / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D013601:T-Lymphocytes; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology; D014775:Virus Activation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D017735:Virus Latency / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D061945:Caspase Inhibitors; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha