It has been previously demonstrated that lymphocyte function-associated molecule 1 (LFA-1) plays a major role in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-mediated syncytia formation. In the present study we investigated the involvement of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), ICAM-2 and ICAM-3 in the process. The ability of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) directed against ICAM-1, ICAM-2 and ICAM-3 to block syncytia was analyzed either in phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-activated lymphocytes infected in vitro with primary or laboratory strains of HIV or by coculturing a T cell line stably expressing HIV envelope with PHA-activated lymphocytes. Complete inhibition of syncytia formation was observed only by the simultaneous addition to the cell cultures of all (i.e. anti-ICAM-1, anti-ICAM-2 and anti-ICAM-3) mAb. These results indicate that the interaction between LFA-1 and ICAM is a critical step in HIV-mediated syncytia formation, and that ICAM-1, ICAM-2 and ICAM-3 are the receptor molecules for the LFA-1-dependent syncytia formation.