CD8+ cell noncytotoxic anti-HIV response appears to be an anti-HIV innate immune response because it can be observed in vitro with CD8+ cells from unexposed and uninfected healthy individuals.
The presence of a CD8+ cell noncytotoxic anti-HIV response (CNAR) was first reported in 1986 by researchers in the laboratory of Dr. Jay Levy at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). It was recognized that CD8+ cells from HIV-infected individuals can suppress HIV replication without directly killing the infected cells.
CNAR was originally hypothesized to be mediated by a CD8+ cell anti-HIV factor (CAF). It is now known that CNAR is mediated by multiple secreted proteins or 'soluble factors', including beta-chemokines (MIP-1 alpha, MIP-1 beta, and RANTES)(3) and type I interferons (interferon alpha and interferon beta)(4).