Despite mechanistic differences, antigp120 and antigp41 antibodies block infectious cell-to-cell HIV transmission. Our data suggest that eliciting high titers of neutralizing antibodies in vivo should be maintained as a main end of HIV vaccine design.

As Arf6 is key to coordinating plasma membrane trafficking and regulates cellular invasion by several microorganisms, the authors studied Arf6 function during early HIV-1 infection. The data suggest that HIV-1 requires Arf6-driven plasma membrane dynamics and depends on GTP/GDP activity to efficiently fuse, enter, and infect CD4+ T lymphocytes.

Background: Cell-to-cell HIV transmission requires cellular contacts that may be in part mediated by the integrin leukocyte function antigen (LFA)-1 and its ligands intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, -2 and -3. The role of these molecules in free virus infection of CD4 T cells or in transinfection mediated by dendritic cells (DC) has been previously described. Here, we evaluate their role in viral transmission between different HIV producing cells and primary CD4 T cells.

SAMHD1 is a viral restriction factor expressed in dendritic cells and other cells, inhibiting infection