Plasmacytoid dendritic cells are highly susceptible to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection and release infectious virus

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pcDC) and myeloid dendritic cells (myDC) are shown to express CD4 and low levels of CCR5 and CXCR4, but only myDC expres s DC SIGN, a C-type lectin that binds human immunodeficiency virus but does not mediate virus entry. Both DC types were more susceptible to infection with a macrophage than a lymphotropic strain of human immunodeficiency viru s type 1, but pcDC were more readily infected than myDC.