ABOVE: HIV-1 virus–like particles (green) are ferried to follicular dendritic cells (dark blue) in the mouse lymph node
JOHN KEHRL AND CHUNG PARK
During HIV infection, the virus accumulates and then hunkers down in the lymphatic system, making it difficult to treat. Research published Tuesday (December 3) in eLife shows how the HIV-1 virus could be shuttled into the lymph nodes and attached to immune cells.
Immunologists Chung Park and John Kehrl of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases injected fluorescent HIV-1 virus–like particles into the groins of mice and observed how they spread into the lymph nodes. Virus-like particles are nanostructures that look like viruses but do not have genetic material, so they cannot reproduce—making them non-infectious.
The researchers found that a layer of cells called subcapsular sinus macrophages shuttled the HIV-like particles to other immune cells in the lymph nodes such as follicular dendritic cells and B ...
