Skip to main content

REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Viral Immunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1540932
This article is part of the Research Topic Deciphering Host-Virus Interactions and Advancing Therapeutics for Chronic Viral Infection View all articles

HIV Controllers: Hope for a Functional Cure

Provisionally accepted
Zhuoya Deng Zhuoya Deng 1Hongxia Yan Hongxia Yan 1Olivier Lambotte Olivier Lambotte 2Christiane Moog Christiane Moog 3Bin Su Bin Su 1,4*
  • 1 Beijing Key Laboratory for HIV/AIDS Research, Clinical and Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
  • 2 University Paris Saclay, AP-HP, Bicêtre Hospital, UMR1184 INSERM CEA, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France
  • 3 Laboratoire d’ImmunoRhumatologie Moléculaire, INSERM UMR_S 1109, Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg (FMTS), Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, Alsace, France
  • 4 Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Elite controllers (ECs) and post-treatment controllers (PTCs) represent important models for achieving a functional cure for HIV. This review synthesizes findings from immunological, genetic, and virological studies to compare the mechanisms underlying HIV suppression in ECs and PTCs. Although ECs maintain viral control without antiretroviral therapy (ART), PTCs achieve suppression following ART discontinuation. Both groups rely on adaptive and innate immunity, host genetic factors, and characteristics of the HIV reservoir; however, they exhibit distinct immune responses and genetic profiles. These differences provide insights into strategies for sustained ART-free remission. Understanding the shared and unique mechanisms in ECs and PTCs can inform the development of novel therapeutic approaches, including immune-based therapies and genome editing, to achieve a functional cure for HIV-1.

    Keywords: HIV controllers, functional cure, immune response, Genetic polymorphisms, HIV reservoirs

    Received: 06 Dec 2024; Accepted: 07 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Deng, Yan, Lambotte, Moog and Su. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Bin Su, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 67000, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.