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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Imaging of HIV-1 Envelope-induced Virological Synapse and Signaling on Synthetic Lipid Bilayers
Published on: March 8, 2012
HIV-1 at the immunological and T-lymphocytic virological synapse
Claudia Haller1, Oliver T Fackler
1Department of Virology, University of Heidelberg, INF 324, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Abstract:
Cell-cell transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is considered the most effective mode of viral spread in T-lymphocyte cultures. Evidence has accumulated that HIV-1 assembles polarized synaptic-like structures, referred to as virological synapses, as specialized sites of viral transfer. Interestingly, it was recently also discovered that HIV-1 impairs the formation of the structurally similar immunological synapse, thereby modulating exogenous T-lymphocyte stimulation to yield an optimal activation state for productive HIV-1 infection. The careful dissection of these opposing effects will contribute to our understanding of retroviral spread and cellular signal transduction machineries.
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