DCs promote activation and subsequent infection of HS CD4⁺ cells. imDCs were exposed to HIV_NL-AD8 (0.8 nM of p24) for 3 hours at 37°C. Cells were then washed and cocultured with effector N2 cells that recognize the gag2 epitope, for the indicated periods of time. Noninfected DCs were used as a negative control (DC-NI). As a positive control for T-cell activation and HIV replication, N2 cells were activated with PHA for 2 hours prior to coculture with HIV-pulsed DCs. Cells were stained with anti-CD3, anti-DC-SIGN, anti-Gag, and anticytokine (IL-2, TNFα, and IFNγ) mAbs. N2 cell activation and HIV infection were analyzed by flow cytometry. Results depicted were obtained by gating the analysis on N2 cells (CD3⁺, DCSIGN^-). The percentages of cytokine⁺ and Gag⁺ cells are shown. Data are representative of 3 independent experiments.