HIV protease:late action to prevent immune detection

A recent study published in Science by Wang and colleagues shows that premature activation of the HIV-1 protease leads to caspase activation and recruitment domain 8(CARD8)inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis of infected macrophages and CD4+T cells(Fig.1).These findings might help to improve approaches aiming to eliminate the latent viral reservoirs upon HIV-1 reactivation.Most invading viral pathogens trigger the innate immune system and are usually rapidly controlled and eventually eliminated.Cells sense viral intruders via so-called pattern recognition receptors(PRRs)capable of detecting pathogen-associated molecular patterns(PAMPs)allowing discrimination between self and non-self.In many cases,these patterns are viral nucleic acids that show pathogen-specific structures or emerge at the wrong localization in the cell.Ultimately,activation of PRRs by their respective ligands leads to the induction of various anti-viral signaling cascades,among them the inflammasome.