In this thesis we focus on the ability of HIV-1 to establish a latent provirus in proliferating T cells and on how the silent provirus can be activated from latency. HIV-1 latency is a major barrier towards virus eradication from the infected individual. Knowledge on how the latent reservoir is established and understanding the molecular mechanisms that control latency may contribute to the development of therapeutics that aim at the prevention and/or eradication of proviral latency.