Fig. 3.

Isolation of CD4⁺ T cell clones harboring defective proviruses from an individual with advanced HIV-1 infection. Schematic diagram of the strategy used to isolate CD4⁺ T cell clones harboring defective proviruses from a patient with HIV-1 infection. CD4⁺ T cells were obtained from a time point 2 months after achieving a pVL <40 copies/mL (blue circle). Out of 6,000 cells initially plated, two T cell clones harboring the same defective provirus, P36-5, were isolated. This provirus, with a 2.4-kb internal deletion, was the predominant species present in the patient’s cells in vivo (green circle). By isolating T cell clones, the capacity to transcribe HIV-RNA and produce viral proteins at the single-cell level can be assessed.