SUPPRESSOR PHENOMENON

Process where CD8+ cells not only kill HIV-infected cells directly by a process called cytolysis, but also secrete soluble factors that suppress HIV replication in both blood and lymph nodes. It appears that CD8+ cells secrete signaling molecules, called beta-chemokines (see chemokines), which normally recruit inflammatory cells to the site of an infection. Three of these beta-chemokines, RANTES, MIP-1a, and MIP-1b, appear to block HIV replication by occupying receptors necessary for the entry of some strains of HIV into their target cells.