Video description

Using a method to fluorescently tag the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, CBST, and the UC Davis Department of Internal Medicine were able to visualize both viral particle formation and transmission of virus from infected to uninfected T cells.  This black and white video shows a T cell, one of the key white blood cells in the human immune system, that has been infected with HIV tagged with a fluorescent marker that makes the virus (and thus the infected cell) glow.   This infected T cell was placed in a solution of uninfected T cells that aren’t visible (since they aren’t infected with a virus that makes them glow), and high-resolution, video fluorescence microscopy was used to watch the infected T cell attach to an uninfected cell via a structure called a virological synapse, which is an intensely bright “button” that forms a sort of bridge between the cells and allows the virus to move directly into the uninfected cell.

Download the black and white video (QuickTime).

Picture description

Using a method to fluorescently tag HIV, researchers visualized both viral particle formation and transmission of virus from infected to uninfected T cells.  This black and white image shows a T cell, one of the key white blood cells in the human immune system, that has been infected with HIV tagged with a fluorescent marker that makes the cell glow.   This infected T cell was placed in a solution of uninfected T cells that aren’t visible, since they aren’t infected with a virus that makes them glow, and high-resolution, video microscopy was used to watch the infected T cell attach to an uninfected cell via a structure called a virological synapse, which is an intensely bright “button” that forms a sort of bridge between the cells and allows the virus to move directly into the uninfected cell.

Video description

Using a method to fluorescently tag HIV, researchers visualized both viral particle formation and transmission of virus from infected to uninfected T cells.  This video shows a T cell, one of the key white blood cells in the human immune system, that has been infected with HIV tagged with a green-fluorescent marker.   This infected T cell was placed in a solution of uninfected T cells (that aren’t glowing green), and high-resolution video microscopy was used to watch the infected T cell attach to an uninfected cell via a structure called a virological synapse that forms a sort of bridge between the cells and allows the virus to move directly into the uninfected cell.

Click here to download the fluorescent video (QuickTime).

Picture description

Using a method to fluorescently tag HIV, researchers visualized both viral particle formation and transmission of virus from infected to uninfected T cells.  This color image shows a T cell, one of the key white blood cells in the human immune system, that has been infected with HIV tagged with a fluorescent marker that makes the cell glow.   This infected T cell was placed in a solution of uninfected T cells that are only slightly visible, since they aren’t infected with a virus that makes them glow, and high-resolution, video microscopy was used to watch the infected T cell attach to an uninfected cell via a structure called a virological synapse, which is an intensely bright “button” that forms a sort of bridge between the cells and allows the virus to move directly into the uninfected cell.

Also please see the Dr. Thomas Huser's lab website for additional video, photos and information.

JOURNAL ARTICLE: Quantitative 3D Video Microscopy of HIV Transfer Across T Cell Virological Synapses

NSF CBST Press release