Assessing the Antiviral Activity of HIV-1-Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes

Currently available assays for detecting HIV-1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are remarkable for their technical ease, sensitivity, and precision of measurement. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that CTL responses vary in their antiviral activity at the clonal level. These assays do not reveal the antiviral efficacies of the CTL they detect. Thus, an experimental approach that has been developed for this purpose has been the coculture of CTL with HIV-1-infected cells, to measure the impact of the CTL on viral replication. Data from such experiments can be useful to elucidate the contribution of viral and CTL factors to the antiviral efficiency of CTL.