Medical News

Scientists Observe HIV Replication in Real Time

From U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

June 13, 2008

For the first time, US researchers have observed the assembly of HIV in real-time, they recently reported in Nature. Using total internal reflection microscopy, a technique developed at Rockefeller University, scientists could see the surface of an infected cell and watch the processes of HIV replication.

Rockefeller's Sanford M. Simon and colleagues were able to see the thousands of molecules assembling to form a single HIV particle as well as HIV's separation from the cell wall. The genesis of a single virus particle took five to six minutes.

The capacity to observe cell surfaces may help scientists learn more about the processes that occur there and aid in fighting the disease.

The full report, "Imaging the Biogenesis of Individual HIV-1 Virions in Live Cells," was published online ahead of print in Nature (2008;doi:10.1038/nature06998).

Back to other news for June 2008

Adapted from:
BBC Focus
05.28.2008

This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update. Visit the CDC's website to find out more about their activities, publications and services.

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