[A new therapeutic strategy to control HIV? The PD1 molecule and its role in inhibiting cellular immune responses].

CD8+ T cells are crucial in protecting against viral infections by secreting antiviral factors and lysing infected cells. The loss of these functions is a hallmark of various chronic viral infections. In HIV chronic infection, CD8+ T cells develop this exhausted phenotype and their protection capacities diminish. Recently, it has been shown that a co-inhibitory molecule called PD-1 plays an important role on this exhausted phenotype. These findings open up the possibility of research targeted to develop therapeutic interventions that may restore CD8+ T cell function in chronic HIV infection.