Mount Sinai researchers track HIV in real time as it infects and spreads in living tissue
Thursday, June 9, 2016 - 21:21
in Health & Medicine
By watching brightly glowing HIV-infected immune cells move within mice, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have shown how infected immune cells latch onto an uninfected sister cell to directly transmit newly minted viral particles. These interactions allow HIV to spread efficiently between these immune cells, known as CD4+ helper T cells. The research, published online today in Cell Reports, challenges the long-held perception that the primary route of HIV infection of immune cells is from free-floating viral particles that move within tissue and blood fluids.