Modelling shows HIV infection during sex

In a world first, French scientists have demonstrated how HIV infects hosts through sexual transmission.

Researchers at the Institut Cochin in Paris created a model of genital tissue in a lab dish which included the cells that line the genital mucous membranes.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that infects the immune system cells is covered with a green fluorescent protein.

Video shows how the HIV spurts from the T cell into the epithelial cell.

Instead of infecting the epithelial cells, the HIV travels across it and is absorbed by another type of immune cell.

The groundbreaking modelling supports earlier theories about HIV infection.

"We had this global idea of how HIV infects this tissue [of the genital tract]; but following something live is completely different," Morgane Bomsel, a molecular biologist at the Institut Cochin in Paris and a senior author of the study, said.

“The precise sequence of events can be defined.”

The study found that after about 20 days HIV starts a dormant state but still inside the infected cells – which makes it harder to target with drugs.

Bomsel said the next step in tackling HIV infection would be “to act extremely early upon infection” to avoid the build-up inside a host.

Their findings were published in the journal Cell Reports.