How does HIV infect T-lymphocytes?

Question

Aaron Allen · Accepted Answer

HIV can lodge itself on membrane receptor of T lymphocyte and then injects viral RNA and viral enzymes in host cell.

Human immunodeficiency virus abbreviated as #HIV# is a host-specific retrovirus that targets the major components of human immune system i.e #T#-#lymphocytes# or #T#-#cells#.

Infection cycle of HIV:

Attachment:
Firstly the HIV virus attaches to the #Cd4# receptor site on the T-cells. These fuse with the t-cell membrane and get entry into the cell's cytoplasm where they are uncoated.
Reverse transcription and Integration:
HIV virus being a retrovirus has a special enzyme known as reverse trancriptase on the #RNA# #"genome"#. This enzyme uses the #"viral RNA"# as a template to make a strand of #DNA# and then uses the DNA strand as a template to make a DNA double helix. Original viral RNA gets degraded.
The viral DNA integrates into the chromosomal DNA of T-cell of the host, now becoming a provirus.
Translation:
The proviral DNA is transcribed into RNA which uses host cell's machinery to translate viral proteins to encase newly generated viral genome.
Assembly and Release:
So, new capsids assemble around #"viral RNA"# and reverse transcriptase molecules. And they bud off from plasma membrane of T-cell as mature HIV viruses, ready to attack more T cells.
Increasing number of Cd4 cells start to die due to HIV infection.

Kai Andersen · Answer

undefined Viral particles are generated and released, causing T-cell destruction. HIV infects T-lymphocytes by binding to the co-receptors CCR5 or CXCR4 and the CD4 receptor on the cell surface. The viral envelope then fuses with the cell membrane, releasing the viral RNA into the host cell. Reverse transcriptase then translates the viral RNA into DNA, which integrates into the host genome.