Fig. 4
From: Roles of phosphatidylserine exposed on the viral envelope and cell membrane in HIV-1 replication
Molecular mechanism of phagocytic clearance of HIV-1-infected cells by macrophages. HIV-1 induces PtdSer exposure on CD4+ T-cells. The infected cells exposing high levels of PtdSer are at a late apoptotic stage and produce relatively low amounts of viral proteins. The cells producing viral proteins at high levels expose PtdSer at low levels. Protein S mediates phagocytic clearance of HIV-1-infected cells at a late apoptotic stage by bridging PtdSer exposed on the infected cells to Mer expressed on macrophages