How a cellular shuttle helps HIV-1 spread in immune organs

New insight on how a type of cell facilitates the spread of HIV-1 has been published in the open-access journal eLife. The findings in mice suggest that subcapsular sinus macrophages, the first layer of cells in the draining lymph node, act as a kind of ‘shuttle’ for HIV-1 virus-like particles. These cells help the particles spread by loading them onto two types of immune cells, follicular dendritic cells and B cells. HIV is a virus that damages immune cells and suppresses the host’s ability to fight everyday infections and disease. During HIV-1 infection, follicular dendritic cells act as a reservoir for the virus and an obstacle to curative treatments, but it was not well known how these cells initially acquire and preserve HIV-1. Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, set out to investigate this further. The team...