Work

Mechanism of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 localization in CD4-negative thymocytes: differentiation from a CD4-positive precursor allows productive infection

Year: 1997

Type: article

Abstract: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection of the thymus could have profound effects on development of the immune response, particularly in children. We and others have established that in addition to infecting and depleting CD4-bearing thymocytes, functional HIV proviruses are found in thymocytes lacking surface CD4 expression. Using in vitro thymocyte cultures, we show that neither HIV-mediated down regulation of CD4 nor CD4-independent infection contributes to the localization of HIV in cells lacking the primary virus receptor. Rather, infection of a CD4-positive precursor cell (CD4 positive/CD8 positive) with subsequent differentiation into a mature CD4-negative phenotype results in productively infected CD4-negative cells. This novel mechanism may contribute to pathogenesis by distributing viral sequences into functional subsets of T cells typically refractory to HIV infection and could account for the presence of viral DNA in CD8-positive lymphocytes recently observed in patients.

Source: Journal of Virology

DOI: 10.1128/jvi.71.8.5713-5722.1997

Authors: S G Kitchen, C H Uittenbogaart, J A Zack

Institution: University of California, Los Angeles

Language: English

Topic: HIV Research and Treatment

Subfield: Virology

Field: Immunology and Microbiology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development