The present invention provides methods and compositions useful for the elimination of latent HIV reservoirs that persist despite HAART. The methods and compositions overcome this latent barrier by inducing the replication of HIV in latently infected T cells while preventing the spread of the newly produced virions to uninfected cells by providing HAART simultaneously. Compositions of the invention comprise an activator of latent HIV expression, such as prostratin, and an inhibitor of histone deacetylase, such as TSA. A surprising finding of this invention is that the inhibitor of the histone deacetylase synergizes the effect of prostratin thus, allowing administering to a patient a lower, non-toxic dose of prostratin.
