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Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 virological synapse formation in T cells requires lipid raft integrity.

Jolly C, Sattentau QJ

The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RE, United Kingdom.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) can spread directly between T cells by forming a supramolecular structure termed a virological synapse (VS). HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins (Env) are required for VS assembly, but their mode of recruitment is unclear. We investigated the distribution of GM1-rich lipid rafts in HIV-1-infected (effector) T cells and observed Env colocalization with polarized raft markers GM1 and CD59 but not with the transferrin receptor that is excluded from lipid rafts. In conjugates of effector T cells and target CD4+ T cells, GM1, Env, and Gag relocated to the cell-cell interface. The depletion of cholesterol in the infected cell dispersed Env and GM1 within the plasma membrane, eliminated Gag clustering at the site of cell-cell contact, and abolished assembly of the VS. Raft integrity is therefore critical for Env and Gag co-clustering and VS assembly in T-cell conjugates.

Published 5 September 2005 in J Virol, 79(18): 12088-94.
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