This research program has the long-term goal of helping develop new therapeutic approaches to eliminate or control the HIV reservoir, leading to a drug-free remission. The proliferation of infected cells is a major mechanism of HIV persistence, as it results in expanded CD4+ T cell clones that carry proviral DNA. Recent studies suggest that antigen-specific immune responses contribute largely to this phenomenon. The overall objective of this application is to understand the role of chronic antigens in determining the structure and dynamics of the clones that constitute the HIV reservoir. The underlying central hypothesis is that adaptive immune responses impose selective pressure on HIV-infected cells. The research proposed in this application is innovative because, compared to the status quo, it focuses on physiological T cell stimulation and ubiquitous immune responses to study latency reversal and HIV dynamics. The proposed research is significant because it is expected to result in a better understanding of the interaction between adaptive immunity and HIV persistence, and will provide new insight on how to target a major mechanism of HIV reservoir maintenance. Ultimately, such knowledge has the potential of offering new opportunities for the development of innovative strategies to induce HIV remission.