Figure 5.

The CD4 T cells in the conjugates are HIV- infected. We demonstrated that the CD4 T cells in the conjugates are HIV-infected with in situ PCR for identifying the integrated HIV DNA in the cells (green). The conjugation of CD4–CD8 T cells are from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of a 42-year-old patient, 2 years after infection, with a viral load of 25 471 copies/ml and CD4 count of 666/mm³. (a) A mixture of CD8 and CD4 T cells in which 10% of the CD4 T cells have integrated HIV DNA in their nucleus. (b) Conjugated CD4 T cells with integrated HIV DNA in their nucleus (c) Conjugated CD4 T cells with integrated HIV DNA in their nucleus from the PBMC of another patient. All conjugates demonstrated an HIV-infected cell within them