Multiple cell types from the natural host support lentiviral replication. For the nonprimate lentiviruses, these include fibroblasts and macrophages. HIV has been reported to infect a wide range of cells in vitro, including peripheral blood dendritic cells and follicular dendritic cells, B cells, natural killer cells, eosinophils, precursor CD4+ bone marrow cells, immature thymic precursor
With HIV, [its evolution has] been a long, drawn-out process because the virus is poorly transmissible. It takes, on average, 100 sexual contacts for a man to give it to a woman and 200 contacts The viral protease of a large number of retroviruses including MLV, HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIV can induce the cleavage of the initiation factor eIF4GI, which is an essential component of the host How a retrovirus, like HIV, reproduces and assembles new viruses is different than previously thought, according to new research. Understanding the steps a virus takes for assembly could allow