Background: The presence of the tetraspanins CD9, CD63, CD81 and CD82 at HIV-1 budding sites, at the virological synapse (VS), and their enrichment in HIV-1 virions has been welldocumented, but it remained unclear if these proteins play a role in the late phase of the viral replication cycle. Here we used overexpression and knockdown approaches to address this question.

HIV-1-infected macrophages participate in virus dissemination and establishment of virus reservoirs in host tissues, but the mechanisms for virus cell-to-cell transfer to macrophages remain unknown. Here, we reveal the mechanisms for cell-to-cell transfer from infected T cells to macrophages and virus spreading between macrophages. We show that contacts between infected T lymphocytes and macrophages lead to cell fusion for fast and massive transfer of CCR5-tropic viruses to macrophages. Through the merge of viral material between T cells and macrophages, these newly formed lymphocyte/macrophage fused cells acquire the ability to fuse with neighboring non-infected macrophages. Together, these two-step envelope-dependent cell fusion processes lead to the formation of highly virus-productive multinucleated giant cells reminiscent of the infected multinucleated giant macrophages detected in HIV-1-infected patients and SIV-infected macaques. These mechanisms represent an original mode of virus transmission for viral spreading and a new model for the formation of macrophage virus reservoirs during infection. We reveal a very efficient mechanism involved in cell-to-cell transfer from infected T cells to macrophages and subsequent virus spreading between macrophages by a two-step cell fusion process. Infected T cells first establish contacts and fuse with macrophage targets. The newly formed lymphocyte/macrophage fused cells then acquire the ability to fuse with surrounding uninfected macrophages leading to the formation of infected multinucleated giant cells that can survive for a long time as evidenced in lymphoid organs and the central nervous system. This route of infection may be a major determinant for virus dissemination and the formation of macrophage virus reservoirs in host tissues during HIV-1 infection.