HIV is known to enter a cell via CD4 and by the co-receptors CXCR4 and CCR5. Previously researchers believed the envelope of the virus bound to a cell at the membrane surface and fused, allowing entrance of the viral and delivery of the genomic contents to the cytoplasm of the cell. New research, published by Melikyan et al in Cell this month, has opened the door to the field and contradicted the assumptions of many previous researchers. The paper shows that HIV enters the cell through endocytosi, after binding the receptors, and then fuses through the endosome to release the contents of the virus into the cytoplasm of a cell. Hopefully this research will open the door into a better understanding of the virus and allow new potential therapeutic targets, not previously considered, to prevent infection from the virus.

Original paper: Cell Volume 137, Issue 3, 433-444, 1 May 2009:

HIV Enters Cells via Endocytosis and Dynamin-Dependent Fusion with Endosomes