It takes two: A two-component system to visualize single-molecule HIV-1 infection in vivo

Understanding HIV-1 reservoir and dynamics is critical to identifying interventions leading to eventual eradication of latently infected cells required for HIV cure.1,2 In the previous issue of Molecular Therapy Advances, the Di Nunzio lab presents an elegant in vivo model system to visualize replication competent HIV-1-infected cells after transplanting modified human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs).3 This two-component ANCH-OR-GFP system, derived from a chromosomal segregation system in bacteria,4 allows single-molecule visualization of virus infection dynamics.