FIG. 1.

Nef staining does not correlate with viral load, is detectable in B cells and can be transferred to human endothelial cells. (A) Pearson correlation between viral load and Nef distribution in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) (r=−0.2274, R²=0.05170, n.s.). (B) Comparison of Nef-positive B cell and non-B cell populations in percent of total PBMCs after immune-magnetobead-based separation of CD19-positive B cells. Data represent the mean±SD from three patients in whom measurements were made in triplicate. (C) Nef staining of HUVEC after 24 h in contact with PBMCs from HIV patients shown as Nef staining only (green, left lower panel) or as overlay with red phalloidin staining depicting endothelial-like cytoskeletal actin staining (red and green, right lower panel). Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/aid