Blood and lymph node dissemination of clonal genome-intact HIV-1 DNA sequences during suppressive antiretroviral therapy.

The majority of cells with latent HIV-1 infection is located in lymphoid tissues that are difficult to access. Here we used single-genome near full-length proviral sequencing to evaluate intact and defective proviruses in blood and lymph node CD4 T cells enriched for specific functional polarizations. We observed minor variations between the frequencies of proviral sequences within individual CD4 T cell subsets and across tissue compartments. Yet, we noted multiple clonal clusters of identical intact or defective proviral sequences from distinct compartments and CD4 T cell subpopulations, suggesting frequent interchanges between viral reservoir cells in blood and tissues.