Subpopulations of peripheral blood dendritic cells show differential susceptibility to infection with a lymphotropic strain of HIV-1

Blood dendritic cells (DC) express CD4 and are susceptible to HIV infection . By electron microscopy two morphologically distinct types of DC were iden tified in peripheral blood. Only one of these two types was susceptible to infection with a lymphotropic strain of HIV-1. By FACS two populations coul d be defined based on the expression of CD11c. The morphology of cultured F ACS-purified CD11c negative DC was similar to that DC population shown to b e susceptible to infection with the lymphotropic strain of HIV. Furthermore after several hours in culture CXCR4, the co-receptor for lymphotropic str ains of HIV-1, was expressed at a significantly higher level on the CD11c n egative DC than on the CD11c positive cells. This study suggests that there are subpopulations of DC that show differences in susceptibility to infect ion with some strains of HIV-1. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights r eserved.