3rd Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections Washington, DC - January 28-February 1, 1996

Conf Retroviruses Opportunistic Infect 1996 Jan 28-Feb 1; 3rd:56 (abstract no. 17)

Zhang H, Dornadula G, Zhu M, Pomeran RJ
The Dorrance H. Hamilton Laboratories, Center for Human Retroviroiogy,Thomas Jefferson University, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA.

Endogenous reverse transcription (ERT) of retroviruses has long been considered a somewhat artificial process which only mimics reverse transcription occurring in target cells, as detergents or amphipathic peptides have classically been used to permeabilize the envelopes of retroviruses in these reaction systems. Recently, several studies suggested that ERT of human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) might occur without detergent treatment. However, this phenomenon could be due to damage of the retroviral envelope during the process of virion purification or freezing and thawing. In this report, intravirion HIV-1ERT, without detergent-induced permeabilization, is demonstrated to occur in the natural microenvironrnents of HIV-1 virions and is not caused by artificial processes. Therefore, this stage of the retroviral life-cycle has been termed "natural endogenous reverse transcription" (NERT). The efficiency of NERT in HIV-1 virions was markedly augmented by several physiological substances in the extracellular milieu, such as polyamines and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs). In addition, HIV-1 virions in seminal plasma harbored dramatically higher levels of full-length or nearly full-length reverse transcripts, as compared to virions isolated from peripheral blood plasma of HIV-l-seropositive men. When HIV-1 virions were incubated with seminal plasma, infectivity was also significantly enhanced. Thus, we suggest that HIV-1 virons are actively altered by the extracellular microenvironment, and that NERT occurring in seminal plasma may play a critical role in the sexual transmission of this human retrovirus.

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Copyright © 1996 - Foundation for Retrovirology and Human Health . Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Foundation for Retrovirology and Human Health.