Abstracts of Posters 8-th European Conference on Mathematical ...

<strong>European</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on Ma<strong>th</strong>ematical and Theoretical Biology 2011
Recent advances in infectious disease modelling I; Saturday, July 2, 11:00
Jona<strong>th</strong>an Forde
Hobart and William Smi<strong>th</strong> Colleges; Geneva, NY, USA
e-mail: forde@hws.edu
Stanca Ciupe
University <strong>of</strong> Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, USA
e-mail: msc6503@louisiana.edu
Reducing HIV Reservoirs by Induced Activation <strong>of</strong> Latently
Infected Cells
Treatment <strong>of</strong> patients infected wi<strong>th</strong> HIV is effective at lowering <strong>th</strong>e serum viral
concentration to below <strong>th</strong>e limits <strong>of</strong> detection, but <strong>th</strong>e virus persists in reservoirs
<strong>of</strong> latently infected cells, such as resting memory T cells. Because <strong>th</strong>e latent pool
may serve as a source for reemergence <strong>of</strong> <strong>th</strong>e virus after <strong>th</strong>e cessation <strong>of</strong> treatment,
speeding its decay is a necessary step toward eradication <strong>of</strong> HIV from <strong>th</strong>e patient.
One strategy for reducing <strong>th</strong>e latent pool is to artificially activate memory T cells.
We present a model <strong>of</strong> viral infection including anti-retroviral <strong>th</strong>erapy and
activation <strong>of</strong> latently infected cells. We explore <strong>th</strong>e relative roles <strong>of</strong> homeostatic
proliferation and transient viremic events in maintaining <strong>th</strong>e latent pool. Using
<strong>th</strong>is model, we evaluate <strong>th</strong>e potential use <strong>of</strong> artificial activation to enhance HIV
treatment.
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