Crawford K, Alper C, Shi B, Vasir D, Gabuzda D; Center for Blood Research, Boston, MA.
Dendritic cells (DC) are unique antigen-presenting cells which are widely distributed in lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues. Previous studies have suggested that DC play an important role in the transmission of HIV-1 to T cells. However, controversy exists regarding whether DC are directly susceptible to HIV-1 infection. In this study, we used a new isolation method to purify a CD2+CD14+ DC population from peripheral blood. Freshly isolated CD2+CD14+ blood DC were highly infectable with the macrophage-tropic BaL HIV-1 isolate, but not with a T cell line-tropic isolate. HIV-1 infection was cytopathic, causing DC apoptosis, syncytia formation, and cell lysis. Virion production occurred primarily within large cytoplasmic vacuoles, rather than by budding at the cell surface. These studies demonstrate that a subpopulation of immature blood DC is highly susceptible to infection with macrophage-tropic HIV-1 and may be an important target for primary HIV-1 infection in vivo.
Keywords: AEGIS, HIV-1, Dendritic Cells, Macrophages, HIV Infections, T-Lymphocytes, Disease Susceptibility, Monocytes, blood, AIDS
