Macrophage interactions with HIV-1-infected T cells

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The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is mainly a sexually-transmitted infection. The tissues which protect the body from these infections are called mucosal surfaces. HIV-1 introduced onto a mucosal surface can not survive for long, and must infect certain cells types in which it can replicate. Some of the first cell types to become infected are called CD4 T cells and macrophages. Macrophages are professional scavenger-killer cells that track down infectious agents such as HIV and the cells they live in, and eliminate them. The balance between macrophages carrying out their virus killing activity and becoming infected themselves may be delicate, and we intend to study whether macrophages can be made more resistant to HIV infection. Macrophages resistant to HIV infection might then kill the virus before it can infect our cells. If we can achieve this in tissue culture in the laboratory, this may lead to the development of drugs that can achieve the same effect in people, reducing or preventing infection by HIV-1.