Investigators Detail HIV's Fatal Handshake

摘要

Betbre a virus can enter a cell, it typically must perform what amounts to a secret handshake at the cell's door. Until recently, AIDS researchers knew only the opening grip that HIV uses to wangle its way into white blood cells, the virus's main target. But during the past year, studies of the complex relationship between HIV and immune-system chemicals known as chemokines have allowed investigators to glimpse a whole series of elbow bumps, pinky pulls, and forearm grabs that HIV and white blood cells exchange when they meet--an understanding that one day may help researchers slam the door on the virus.