HIV-specific CD8+ T cells persisting 2 weeks after ART initiation contribute to limited seeding and persistence of the HIV reservoir. (A) Correlation between percentage of Ki-67+CD8+ T cells from 34 stage 3 individuals and plasma viral load at week 2. Open circle represents the detection limit. (B) Total HIV DNA copies/ 106 CD4+ T cells among AHI stage 1-3 individuals at week 2. For samples in which no positive cells were detected, the limit of detection based on cell input is plotted as an open symbol. (C) Correlation between percentage of Ki-67+ cells in total CD8+ T cells from 20 stage 2 individuals at week 2 and Total HIV DNA copies/ 106 CD4+ T cells at week 24. (D) Correlation between percentage of Ki-67+CD8+ T cells at week 2 and Total HIV DNA copies/ 106 CD4+ T cells at week 24, week 36, week 48, week 72, and week 96 in AHI stage 3 individuals. (E) Correlation between percentage of Ki-67+CD4+ T cells at week 2 and Total HIV DNA copies/ 106 CD4+ T cells at week 24. Differences between groups were analyzed by Mann-Whitney tests. Associations between two variables (p and r) were analyzed by Spearman correlations. **P< 0.01; ****P< 0.0001.