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HIV‐1 Transmission in the Male Genital Tract
Author(s) -
Ganor Yonatan,
Bomsel Morgane
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
american journal of reproductive immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1600-0897
pISSN - 1046-7408
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0897.2010.00933.x
Subject(s) - foreskin , transmission (telecommunications) , virology , sexual transmission , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , male circumcision , viral load , sex organ , immunology , virus , lentivirus , biology , medicine , viral disease , population , cell culture , in vitro , microbicide , biochemistry , genetics , health services , environmental health , electrical engineering , engineering
Citation Ganor Y, Bomsel M. HIV‐1 transmission in the male genital tract. Am J Reprod Immunol 2011; 65: 284–291 HIV‐1 is mainly a sexually transmitted infection, and epithelial surfaces covering genital mucosa are the primary site of HIV‐1 transmission. Although male circumcision was reported to reduce male acquisition of HIV‐1 by 60%, the initial mechanisms of HIV‐1 transmission in the male genitals remain elusive. We established two novel models of the adult human foreskin epithelium that allowed for polarized infection via the mucosal pole with either HIV‐1‐infected cells that are present in all secretions vectorizing HIV‐1 or cell‐free HIV‐1. Efficient HIV‐1 transmission occurs following 1 hr of polarized exposure of the inner, but not outer, foreskin to mononuclear cells highly infected with HIV‐1, but not to cell‐free virus. HIV‐1‐infected cells form viral synapses with apical foreskin keratinocytes, leading to polarized budding of HIV‐1, which is rapidly internalized by Langerhans cells (LCs) in the inner foreskin. In turn, LCs form conjugates with T‐cells, thereby transferring HIV‐1. Seminal plasma from HIV‐negative men mixed with cervico‐vaginal secretions from HIV‐positive women, which mimics the in‐vivo mixture of these genital fluids during woman‐to‐man HIV‐1 sexual transmission, decreases HIV‐1 infection at the foreskin. Our results rationalize at the cellular level the apparent protective outcome of circumcision against HIV‐1 acquisition by men.