Current antiretroviral drugs can efficiently block HIV replication and prevent transmission, but do not target the HIV provirus residing in cells that constitute the viral reservoir. Because drug therapy interruption will cause viral rebound from this reservoir, HIV-infected individuals face lifelong treatment. Therefore, novel therapeutic strategies are being investigated that aim to permanently inactivate the proviral DNA, which may lead to a cure. Multiple studies showed that CRISPR–Cas9 genome editing can be used to attack HIV DNA. Here, we will focus on not only how this endonuclease attack can trigger HIV provirus inactivation, but also how virus escape occurs and this can be prevented.

当前的抗逆转录病毒药物可以有效地阻止HIV复制并阻止传播，但不能针对存在于病毒库中的HIV原病毒。由于药物治疗中断将导致病毒从该储库反弹，因此感染HIV的人将面临终身治疗。因此，正在研究新颖的治疗策略，其旨在永久灭活前病毒DNA，这可能导致治愈。多项研究表明，CRISPR–Cas9基因组编辑可用于攻击HIV DNA。在这里，我们将不仅关注这种核酸内切酶攻击如何触发HIV前病毒的失活，而且还将关注病毒的逃逸如何发生以及如何预防。