Toll-like Receptor 9 Agonist Treatment in Chronic HIV-1 Infection

Combination antiretroviral treatment (cART) effectively suppresses virus replication and partially restores immune functions. However, cART cannot cure HIV infection. This study aim to investigate whether the antiviral immune response can be enhanced and/or viral transcription reactivated with MGN1703. MGN1703 is an agonist to toll-like receptor (TLR) 9. Activation of TLR9 has been shown to augment innate and adaptive immune effector functions, most notably enhanced NK cell and T cell functions. Furthermore, TLR9 agonists have been shown in vitro to reactivate viral transcription in latently infected cells, potentially leading to enhanced recognition of infected cells by the immune effector cells.