Abstract
Knowledge of the pathogenesis of viruses which are less virulent than human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may provide valuable insights into the pathogenesis of HIV infection. Influenza virus, an enveloped RNA virus, infects monocyte-macrophages, although the infection is brief and abortive. Isolated purified lymphocytes are completely resistant to infection. In contrast, mixtures of lymphocytes and macrophages can synthesize all virus proteins. Infection requires physical association of monocyte-macrophages and lymphocytes in "clusters." These studies with influenza virus suggest that the pathogenesis of virus infections in mixed cell cultures may be very different from that observed in purified cell populations, and they suggest that similar studies should be performed with HIV.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.