In:
mSphere, American Society for Microbiology, Vol. 3, No. 2 ( 2018-04-25)
Abstract:
Female genital epithelial cells cover the genital tract and provide the first line of protection against infection with sexually transmitted pathogenic viruses. These cells normally are impervious to HIV-1. We report that coinfection of cells by HIV-1 and another sexually transmitted virus, human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1), led to production of HIV-1 that had expanded cell tropism and was able to directly infect primary vaginal and cervical epithelial cells. HIV-1 infection of epithelial cells was blocked by neutralizing antibodies against the HTLV-1 envelope (Env) protein, indicating that the infection was mediated through HTLV-1 Env pseudotyping of HIV-1. Active replication of HIV-1 in epithelial cells was demonstrated by inhibition with anti-HIV-1 drugs. We demonstrated that HIV-1 derived from peripheral blood of HIV-1–HTLV-1-coinfected subjects could infect primary epithelial cells in an HTLV-1 Env-dependent manner. HIV-1 from subjects infected with HIV-1 alone was not able to infect epithelial cells. These results indicate that pseudotyping of HIV-1 with HTLV-1 Env can occur in vivo . Our data further reveal that active replication of both HTLV-1 and HIV-1 is required for production of pseudotyped HIV-1. Our findings indicate that pseudotyping of HIV-1 with HTLV-1 Env in coinfected cells enabled HIV-1 to directly infect nonpermissive female genital epithelial cells. This phenomenon may represent a risk factor for enhanced sexual transmission of HIV-1 in regions where virus coinfection is common. IMPORTANCE Young women in certain regions of the world are at very high risk of acquiring HIV-1, and there is an urgent need to identify the factors that promote HIV-1 transmission. HIV-1 infection is frequently accompanied by infection with other pathogenic viruses. We demonstrate that coinfection of cells by HIV-1 and HTLV-1 can lead to production of HIV-1 pseudotyped with HTLV-1 Env that is able to directly infect female genital epithelial cells both in vitro and ex vivo . Given the function of these epithelial cells as genital mucosal barriers to pathogenic virus transmission, the ability of HIV-1 pseudotyped with HTLV-1 Env to directly infect female genital epithelial cells represents a possible factor for increased risk of sexual transmission of HIV-1. This mechanism could be especially impactful in settings such as Sub-Saharan Africa and South America, where HIV-1 and HTLV-1 are both highly prevalent.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2379-5042
DOI:
10.1128/mSphere.00038-18
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Society for Microbiology
Publication Date:
2018
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2844248-9
