Metka Lenassi

I got involved in the extracellular vesicle (EV) field in 2007 when studying the role of viral protein Nef in HIV pathogenesis. With the help of my group and collaborators we have since then showed that viral protein Nef is released from HIV-infected T-cells, astrocytes and microglia with EVs which contribute to HIV pathogenesis of uninfected cells. We unraveled the mechanism of Nef-EV biogenesis and release from microglia. We additionally showed that Nef is present in plasma of half of ART-treated HIV infected individuals and elite controllers. I’m very interested in advancing the knowledge of these novel vehicles of cell-cell and cell-pathogen communication and their usage as biomarkers, using HIV-human interaction as a model system.