CONJUGATES OF DENDRITIC CELLS AND MEMORY T-LYMPHOCYTES FROM SKIN FACILITATE PRODUCTIVE INFECTION WITH HIV-1

Experimentally, a productive infection with HIV-1 requires that virus be administered to T cells that are activated by mitogens. We describe a productive milieu for HIV-1 within the confines of normal skin that does not require standard stimuli. The milieu consists of dendritic c ells and T cells that emigrate from skin and produce distinctive stabl e, nonproliferating conjugates. These conjugates, upon exposure to eac h of seven different HIV-1 isolates, begin to release high levels of v irus progeny within 4 days. Numerous infected syncytia, comprised of b oth dendritic and T cells, rapidly develop. We propose that conjugates of dendritic cells and T cells, as found in the external linings of o rgans involved in sexual transmission of HIV-1, represent an important site for the productive phase of HIV-1 infection. Because the affecte d T cells carry the memory phenotype, this site additionally provides a mechanism for the chronic depletion of CD4(+) memory cells in HIV-1 disease.