HIV-infected T cells are migratory vehicles for viral dissemination.

ABSTRACT: After host entry through mucosal surfaces, human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) disseminates to lymphoid tissues to establish a generalized infection of the immune system. The mechanisms by which this virus spreads among permissive target cells locally during the early stages of transmission and systemically during subsequent dissemination are not known. In vitro studies suggest that the formation of virological synapses during stable contacts between infected and uninfected T cells greatly increases the efficiency of viral transfer. It is unclear, however, whether T-cell contacts are sufficiently stable in vivo to allow for functional synapse formation under the conditions of perpetual cell motility in epithelial and lymphoid tissues. Here, using multiphoton intravital microscopy, we ex

SUBMITTER: Murooka TT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3470742 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature