Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 21825870
Curr Opin HIV AIDS 2011 Sep;6(5):364-72
Natural killer (NK) cells promote antiviral immunity by producing proinflammatory cytokines and by lysing infected cells. In addition, NK cells can modulate dendritic cell functions. NK-dendritic cell crosstalk results in activation of both cell types, with dendritic cells promoting NK-cell activity and NK cells inducing further maturation of dendritic cells. Here we review the recent evidence suggesting that NK-dendritic cell crosstalk is disrupted during HIV-1 infection and we discuss the consequences on HIV persistence in dendritic cells.