Hong Kong Med J 2025;31(Suppl 3):S36-9
Human cytomegalovirus latent genes facilitating human immunodeficiency virus type 1 coinfection in CD34+ cells: abridged secondary publication
WK Lee1, Z Ye1, AKL Cheung1, Z Chen2, H Wang3
1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China
2 AIDS Institute, Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
3 Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, China
 
 
  1. Latent infection of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in CD34+ progenitor cells modulates the innate STING immune pathway.
  2. Although the STING pathway remains active, the critical step of p-IRF3 translocation required to initiate type-I IFN expression is impaired.
  3. This impairment inhibits the differentiation of CD34+ progenitor cells into immune-activating myeloid cells, thus promoting viral persistence.
  4. HCMV infection of early CD34+ progenitor cells facilitates HIV-1 coinfection.
  5. Detection of HCMV in urine enables early prognosis and prediction of end-organ diseases in HIV-1 patients.