Queen Mary University of London news release
Researchers have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism by which HIV-1 can infect resting immune cells. The discovery challenges a decades-old assumption in HIV biology, andopens new avenues for understanding how the virus persists in the body, despite treatment.
For HIV to successfully infect T-cells, it must deliver its genetic material into acell’s nucleus. A tightly guarded compartment, the nucleus is surrounded by a structure called the nuclear pore complex (NPC), which acts as a selective gateway controlling what enters and exits. The HIV capsid, the protective shell surrounding the virus’s genetic material, is unusually large, and how it squeezes through this barrier has long puzzled scientists.
This new research reveals that when HIV spreads directly between T-cells it triggers a molecular signalling chain that temporarily ‘unlocks’ the NPC, allowing the virus and HIV capsid to enter and integrate into the host’s DNA. This process, the researchers found, does not require the T-cell to be activated, overturning a long-standing dogma in the field.
Read the full news release here.
Source : Queen Mary University of London
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