THE RELEVANCE OF APOPTOSIS TO AIDS PATHOGENESIS

Several recent experimental findings support the hypothesis that apopt osis induced by human immune deficiency virus (HIV) is important in th e pathogenesis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Thus, on e potential therapeutic strategy against AIDS may be to block the HIV- mediated apoptosis signal transduction pathway. Induction of apoptosis by HIV infection may prove a useful paradigm for the pathogenesis of a wide range of diseases that involve cell depletion and tissue atroph y.