Human immunodeficiency virus integrates directly into naive resting CD4+ T cells but enters naive cells less efficiently than memory cells.

ABSTRACT: Resting CD4(+) T cells restrict human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection at or before reverse transcription, resulting in slower kinetics of reverse transcription. In a previous study, we showed that, despite this restriction at reverse transcription, HIV integration occurs in resting CD4(+) T cells, albeit with slower kinetics. In that study, the resting T cells were a mixture of memory and naïve cells. Here we asked whether the more quiescent naïve cell subset could be directly infected by HIV and, if so, whether the level of integration in naïve cells was comparable to that in memory cells. We found that HIV integrates in the naïve subset of resting CD4(+) T cells without prior activation of the cells. The level of integration (proviruses/cell) in naïve cells was lower than that in

SUBMITTER: Dai J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2668451 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature