Viral reservoirs in a proxy animal model of HIV share features with immune-suppressive tumorsRamon Lorenzo-Redondo, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. In doing so, they identified shared biological programs between viral persistence and tumor immune evasion. “In our case, both approaches pointed to HIV reservoirs existing within tissue environments that resemble those seen in difficult-to-treat cancers.” Using machine learning, the team identified several human genes, including KRT8, EPCAM and RRM2, as important contributors to the tumor-like features seen in persistent viral reservoirs. Together, the findings suggest HIV persistence depends not only on infected cells, but also on the tissue environments that shield them.