Proliferation of cells with HIV integrated into cancer genes contributes to persistent infection

A not-so-random integration for HIV Even in the face of a cocktail of antiretroviral drugs, HIV manages to hang on. It does so by integrating its own genome into those of host cells, where it persists in a latent state. To better understand this process, Wagner et al. determined the sites where HIV integrated into three HIV-infected patients treated with antiretroviral drugs for more than a decade. They found an over-representation of sites where HIV integrated into genes associated with cancer and cell proliferation. Also, multiple cells in the same individual harbored the same integration sites. This suggests that integration into specific genes may drive cell proliferation and viral persistence. Science , this issue p. 570