A quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for HIV-1-specific RNA species.
The ability to evaluate the patterns and levels of human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1)-specific RNA in latently and productively-infected cell lines, and primary human cells, is critical to the understanding of HIV-1 expression in cell cultures and possibly in vivo. We have developed a quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), utilizing in vitro transcribed RNA standards, to evaluate the copy number per cell and per microgram of total cellular RNA of multiply-spliced, unspliced and total HIV-1-specific RNA species. The latently-infected monocytic and T-lymphocyte cell lines, U1 and ACH-2 respectively, are shown to express between 10(4) to 10(6) copies of total HIV-1-specific RNA per cell, based on the state of cellular stimulation. A dramatic increase of unspliced HIV-1-specific RNA in both the U1 cell line and the ACH-2 cell line is demonstrated by this quantitative RT-PCR, 24 h after stimulation with phorbol esters. These data suggest that a single integrated HIV-1 provirus can rapidly express large quantities of HIV-1-specific RNA. Quantitative RT-PCR, for HIV-1-specific transcripts, should prove extremely useful in evaluating retroviral load and pathogenesis in cell cultures and in vivo.
D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods*
D004279:DNA, Viral; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D012367:RNA, Viral; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase