Molecular determination of cell tropism of human immunodeficiency virus

In the 10 years since AIDS was first identified, knowledge of the causative agent, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has advanced remarkably. Molecular biological analysis has had a greater impact on the investigation of HIV and AIDS than on that of any other disease. Unfortunately, the vast amount of material published on this subject has still not resulted in a thorough understanding of the pathogenesis of AIDS. Undoubtedly, part of the reason for the complexity of this disease stems from the ability of HIV to infect a large number of different cell types. To comprehend the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of AIDS, it is of great importance to understand the factors that control the cell tropism of the virus. In this review, we describe the known factors involved in the determination of the cell tropism of retroviruses and the ways by which molecular biological analysis of HIV has revealed the nature of the processes involved in control of the tropism of the virus for various cell types.