HIV-1 Cell-to-Cell Transmission and Antiviral Strategies: An Overview

Title:HIV-1 Cell-to-Cell Transmission and Antiviral Strategies: An Overview

Volume: 17 Issue: 1

Author(s): Nicoletta Casartelli

Affiliation:

Keywords: Broadly neutralizing antibodies, cell-to-cell transmission, cART, HIV-1, HIV-1 accessory proteins, virological synapse.

Abstract: HIV-1 replicates by infecting new target cells either as cell-free viral particle or, much more efficiently, via cell-to-cell viral transmission. Cell-mediated viral spread, in which the infected cell directly transfers the viral particles to target cells via cell-cell contacts, in vitro is up to three orders of magnitude more efficient than transmission mediated by cell-free viral particles. Because of its potency, it has been suggested that current antiretroviral treatments could be less effective in blocking cell-to-cell viral transmission than cell-free. In this review, I will present an overview of the drugbased antiretroviral approaches as well as how the recently identified class of anti-HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies could become part of an effective anti-viral strategy. I will discuss how both treatment strategies can be guided by our consideration that cell-to-cell HIV-1 spread is a major route of viral spread also in vivo.

Cite this article as:

Casartelli Nicoletta, HIV-1 Cell-to-Cell Transmission and Antiviral Strategies: An Overview, Current Drug Targets 2016; 17 (1) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138945011701151217105638