The presence and absence of histocompatibility antigens in HIV type 1 produced by autologous blood-derived macrophages and peripheral blood lymphoblasts

Acquisition of cellular proteins by HIV-1 virions is known to alter the physiology of the virus in vitro, Reported studies of this aspect have been largely limited to transformed T cell lines. In this study, we investigated the incorporation of major histocompatibility antigens (HLAs) on a primary macrophage-tropic isolate, HIV-1(ADA), grown from autologous monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), A virus precipitation assay (VPA) demonstrated that HIV-1(ADA) grown from PBMCs incorporated substantial amounts of HLA class I (alpha chain and beta(2)m) and DR antigens, comparable with a laboratory strain, HIV-1(MN), grown from the same host cells. HIV-1(ADA), however, grown from MDMs incorporated significantly lower amounts of HLAI and -II antigens despite the fact that the infected MDMs were found to express significant amounts of HLA antigens. The lack of incorporation of these important immunomodulatory cell surface proteins may be yet another unique characteristic of macrophage-tropic isolates and suggests a possible role in their biology and or immunology. [References: 78]

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