Human immunodeficiency viruses (HIVs) are the causal agents of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This disease is characterized by a progressive failure of the immune system that exposes the body to opportunistic infections leading to a fatal outcome in the absence of antiviral treatment. Still nowadays, the HIV/AIDS epidemic remains an enormous public health problem throughout the world that requires a convergence of multidisciplinary efforts that range from a fundamental understanding of the virus biology to the elaboration of appropriate political and socio-economic decisions. Our team studies from a basic virological point of view how HIV-1 and HIV-2 infect their target cells and how this process modifies the behaviour of the infected cell and thus affects at the whole genome scale the cell’s functions during antiviral immune responses. To this end, we focus collectively on the gene networks that are modified upon infection of myeloid cells, cells that play a central role in the regulation of the immune system, as well as on cellular proteins able to modify the extent of viral replication.

Key words: Human virology, VIH, Dendritic cells