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. 2008 May 1;111(9):4660-3.
doi: 10.1182/blood-2007-12-130070. Epub 2008 Feb 22.

Efficient HIV-1 transmission from macrophages to T cells across transient virological synapses

Fedde Groot  1 , Sonja Welsch, Quentin J Sattentau
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Free article

Efficient HIV-1 transmission from macrophages to T cells across transient virological synapses

Fedde Groot et al. Blood. .
Free article

Abstract

Macrophages are reservoirs of HIV-1 infection, proposed to transmit virus to CD4(+) T cells, the primary target of the virus. Here we report that human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) rapidly spread HIV-1 to autologous CD4(+) T cells resulting in productive infection. Transmission takes place across transient adhesive contacts between T cells and MDMs, which have the features of a virological synapse including copolarization of CD4 on the T cell with HIV-1 Gag and Env on the macrophage. We propose that an infected MDM can infect at least one T cell every 6 hours. Since HIV-1-infected macrophages can survive for many weeks, these results highlight the central role played by macrophages in HIV-1 infection and pathogenesis.

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