Postintegration HIV-1 infection of cervical epithelial cells mediates contact-dependent productive infection of T cells.

ABSTRACT: The female genital epithelium plays a protective role against invading pathogens; however, sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) still occurs in healthy women. To model virus-cell interactions in this barrier during sexual transmission, we studied the uptake and infection of ectocervical and endocervical cell lines with cell-free fluorescent protein-expressing recombinant HIV-1 carrying primary transmitted/founder envelope genes. We observed that a subset of both the ectocervical and endocervical epithelial cells become productively infected with cell-free HIV-1 in a CD4-independent manner. In addition, the ability of the semen-derived enhancer of virus infection (SEVI) to enhance virus-epithelial cell interactions was studied. This infection is increased appro

SUBMITTER: Micsenyi AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3814833 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature