NEWS AND VIEWS
01 December 2025 Antibodies and T cells join forces for sustained HIV remission Two studies suggest that T cells with stem-cell-like properties could work with antibody therapies to control HIV after a person stops taking antiviral pills. By Jonathan Z. Li 0 Jonathan Z. Li Jonathan Z. Li is at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. View author publications PubMed Google Scholar
Since its introduction in the late 1980s, HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) has saved millions of lives by transforming HIV from a fatal disease into a chronic, manageable condition. Despite these achievements, ART is not a cure, and even after decades of treatment, HIV will rebound rapidly in nearly all individuals who stop therapy1. Lifelong ART is accompanied by numerous challenges, such as social stigma and fatigue associated with the need to take pills daily. The global economic burden of ART, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where HIV is most prevalent, adds to the urgency of finding alternatives2. Two studies published in Nature by Kiani et al.3 and Peluso et al.4 represent signposts along this path, illuminating how antibody-based therapies might work with powerful cellular immune responses to allow HIV to be controlled without ART.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03805-y
References Li, J. Z. et al. Clin. Infect. Dis. 74, 865–870 (2021). Brink, D. T. et al. Lancet HIV 12, e346–e354 (2025). Kiani, Z. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09932-w (2025). Peluso, M. J. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09929-5 (2025). Hütter, G. et al. N. Engl. J. Med. 360, 692–698 (2009). Gunst, J. D. et al. Nature Med. 28, 2424–2435 (2022). Gaebler, C. et al. Nature 606, 368–374 (2022). Mendoza, P. et al. Nature 561, 479–484 (2018). Nishimura, Y. et al. Nature 543, 559–563 (2017). Hu, X. et al. J. Immunol. 197, 3999–4013 (2016). Vibholm, L. et al. Clin. Infect. Dis. 64, 1686–1695 (2017). Sneller, M. C. et al. Sci. Transl. Med. 9, eaan8848 (2017). Gaiha, G. D. et al. Science 364, 480–484 (2019). Download references
Competing Interests J.Z.L. has consulted for Abbvie, Merck and Imunon.
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