Immune cell phenotypes across tissues in people with HIV

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review summarizes our current understanding of immune cell phenotypes across human tissues in the context of HIV infection, with particular emphasis on insights from postmortem studies. RECENT FINDINGS: Rapid autopsy cohorts enable systematic collection of multiple anatomical sites within hours of death, including tissues inaccessible during life. Together with biopsy studies, these approaches have revealed tissue-specific phenotypes and functions of HIV-susceptible cells, of long-lived HIV reservoir cells that are the main barrier to cure, and of CD8+ T cells and NK cells as effectors that can recognize and eliminate HIV-infected cells. SUMMARY: Immune cell phenotypes relevant to HIV susceptibility, persistence, and antiviral control diverge across anatomical sites and differ substantially from their counterparts in peripheral blood.