Abstract
Latent infection of CD4(+) T cells is the main barrier to eradicating HIV-1 infection from infected patients. The cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the establishment and maintenance of latent infection are directly linked to the transcriptional program of the different CD4(+) T cell subsets targeted by the virus. In this review, we provide an overview of how T cell activation, T cell differentiation into functional subsets, and the mode of initial viral infection influence HIV proviral transcription and entry into latency.