Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Feb 19:9:260.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00260. eCollection 2018.

Mechanisms for Cell-to-Cell Transmission of HIV-1

Lucie Bracq  1   2   3   4   5 , Maorong Xie  1   2   3   5 , Serge Benichou  1   2   3   4   5 , Jérôme Bouchet  1   2   3   5
Affiliations
Review

Mechanisms for Cell-to-Cell Transmission of HIV-1

Lucie Bracq et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

While HIV-1 infection of target cells with cell-free viral particles has been largely documented, intercellular transmission through direct cell-to-cell contact may be a predominant mode of propagation in host. To spread, HIV-1 infects cells of the immune system and takes advantage of their specific particularities and functions. Subversion of intercellular communication allows to improve HIV-1 replication through a multiplicity of intercellular structures and membrane protrusions, like tunneling nanotubes, filopodia, or lamellipodia-like structures involved in the formation of the virological synapse. Other features of immune cells, like the immunological synapse or the phagocytosis of infected cells are hijacked by HIV-1 and used as gateways to infect target cells. Finally, HIV-1 reuses its fusogenic capacity to provoke fusion between infected donor cells and target cells, and to form infected syncytia with high capacity of viral production and improved capacities of motility or survival. All these modes of cell-to-cell transfer are now considered as viral mechanisms to escape immune system and antiretroviral therapies, and could be involved in the establishment of persistent virus reservoirs in different host tissues.

Keywords: HIV-1; T cells; cell-to-cell transfer; dendritic cells; macrophages.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Intercellular structures and processes involved in cell-to-cell transmission of HIV-1. (A–G) Schemes represent the different pathways for HIV-1 cell-to-cell transfer between donor cells (in green) and target cells (in pink).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Models for HIV-1 entry downstream of the virological synapse. After budding and release from infected donor cells, HIV could be able to enter the target cells via two distinct pathways. (left) Entry through endocytic pathway: immature virions interact with the CD4 receptor at cell surface of target cell, are internalized by endocytosis, mature in endocytic compartments, and fuse with the luminal membrane of endosomes. (right) Fusion with plasma membrane: mature viruses are captured by CD4, at the surface of target cells, and directly fuse with plasma membrane for release of viral material in the cytoplasm of the target cells.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Phillips DM. The role of cell-to-cell transmission in HIV infection. AIDS (1994) 8:719–31.10.1097/00002030-199406000-00001 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dimitrov DS, Broder CC, Berger EA, Blumenthal R. Calcium ions are required for cell fusion mediated by the CD4-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein interaction. J Virol (1993) 67:1647–52. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carr JM, Hocking H, Li P, Burrell CJ. Rapid and efficient cell-to-cell transmission of human immunodeficiency virus infection from monocyte-derived macrophages to peripheral blood lymphocytes. Virology (1999) 265:319–29.10.1006/viro.1999.0047 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chen P, Hübner W, Spinelli MA, Chen BK. Predominant mode of human immunodeficiency virus transfer between T cells is mediated by sustained Env-dependent neutralization-resistant virological synapses. J Virol (2007) 81:12582–95.10.1128/JVI.00381-07 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Martin N, Sattentau Q. Cell-to-cell HIV-1 spread and its implications for immune evasion. Curr Opin HIV AIDS (2009) 4:143–9.10.1097/COH.0b013e328322f94a - DOI - PubMed

Publication types