Nature 377, 740 - 744 (26 October 2002); doi:10.1038/377740a0

Follicular dendritic cells and human immunodeficiency virus infectivity

Sonya L. Heath^*, J. Grant Tew^*, John G. Tew^*, Andras K. Szakal^† & Gregory F. Burton^*‡

Department of ^*Microbiology & Immunology and of ^† Anatomy, Division of Immunobiology, Box 980678, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23298-0678, USA
^‡To whom correspondence should be addressed.

LARGE amounts of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) localize on follicular dendritic cells (FDC) in the follicles of secondary lymphoid tissues following viral infection^1,2. During clinical latency, active viral infection occurs primarily at these sites^3,4. As HIV on FDC is in the form of immune complexes⁵, some of which may be formed with neutralizing antibody, we investigated whether HIV on FDC is infectious. We report here that HIV on FDC is highly infectious. Furthermore, FDC can convert neutralized HIV into an infectious form even in the presence of a vast excess of neutralizing antibody. Thus FDC may provide a mechanism whereby HIV infection can continue in the presence of neutralizing antibody.

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