title: Colony forming T lymphocyte deficit in the development of feline retrovirus induced immunodeficiency syndrome.
abstract: The identification and molecular cloning of a feline leukemia virus (FeLV) isolate (FeLV-FAIDS) that consistently produces immunodeficiency syndrome has allowed prospective investigation of events that occur in the prodromal phase of disease. Using a T-lymphocyte colony forming assay (T-CFU-Ic) we have demonstrated that a drastic depletion of circulating T-CFU-Ic prefigures the development of clinical immunodeficiency disease in inoculated cats and correlates with the appearance and replication of the FeLV-FAIDS variant genome in serially collected bone marrow samples. During the same presymptomatic time period, no significant alterations in conventional mitogen-induced lymphocyte blastogenic responses or in circulating lymphocyte numbers were evident. Thus T-CFU-Ic assay but not conventional mitogen-driven blastogenesis identified animals destined to develop immunodeficiency syndrome. The correlation among T-CFU-Ic depletion, the replication of the lymphocytopathic FeLV-FAIDS variant genome in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues, and the onset of clinical disease, infers that ablation of a colony-forming T lymphocyte progenitor subset is important in the early pathogenesis of feline retrovirus-induced immunodeficiency syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Quackenbush
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Mullins
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hoover
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D005256:Leukemia Virus, Feline / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D014410:Tumor Stem Cell Assay
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral