HIV-1 cell-to-cell spread overcomes the virus entry block of non-macrophage-tropic strains in macrophages.
Mingyu Han, Vincent Cantaloube-Ferrieu, Maorong Xie, Marie Armani-Tourret,Marie Woottum, Jean-Christophe Pagès, Philippe Colin, Bernard Lagane*, Serge Benichou*
PloS Pathogens
Macrophages are important HIV-1 target cells that contribute to dissemination of the virus and formation of tissue viral reservoirs. Paradoxically, cellular tropism assays indicate that HIV-1 isolates are only rarely macrophage-tropic, suggesting that they do not reflect the modes of in vivo macrophage infection. A publication in PLoS Pathogens (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010335) by Bernard Lagane and coll. (Team “Viral infection: persistence, host response and pathophysiology”) show that macrophages can be effectively infected through cell-cell fusion with infected CD4+ T cells. This mode of infection overcomes the virus entry block of HIV-1 isolates initially defined as non-macrophage-tropic. These data suggest that HIV-1
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010335