Manipulation d’un prélèvement sanguin de patient infecté par le VIH-1 dans le labo P3 de l'IGH

Handling a blood sample from a patient infected with HIV-1 in a BSC (biosafety cabinet) in the P3 laboratory at the Institute of Human Genetics (IGH). All the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) are collected in order to mark them with a specific antibody. The PBMC ring (formed element of the blood: mainly leucocytes) has been separated from the red blood cells and the plasma. The PBMC contain both healthy cells (the vast majority) and infected cells (very rare). It is in this laboratory that a marker has been identified that makes it possible to differentiate between dormant or reservoir cells, infected with HIV, and healthy cells. This discovery will make it possible to isolate and analyse these reservoir cells which, by silently hosting the virus, are responsible for its persistence even in patients receiving antiretroviral treatment, whose viral load is undetectable. It offers new therapeutic strategies for targeting infected cells.