Isolation of T-lymphotropic retrovirus related to HTLV-III/LAV from wild-caught African green monkeys.
Present evidence suggests that the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) emerged in Central Africa as a new disease in recent decades. This disease has recently approached epidemic proportions in many parts of the world. The etiologic agent of AIDS is believed to be the virus HTLV-III/LAV, which has been proposed as having originated from a recent simian-human transmission in Africa. This report describes the isolation of a designated STLV-IIIAGM retrovirus closely related to HTLV-III/LAV from seven healthy wild-caught African Green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) that showed the presence of antibodies designated STLV-IIIAGM. In vitro growth characteristics, ultrastructural morphology, and major proteins of 160,000 kilodaltons (kD), 120 kD, 55 kD, and 24 kD are similar to and cross-reactive with the analogous antigens of HTLV-III/LAV. The use of these serologic markers in the detection of STLV-IIIAGM-infected monkeys may be important in assuring the continued safety of a variety of biologic reagents that are derived from these primate species. The existence of a retrovirus closely related to HTLV-III/LAV that naturally infects an African nonhuman primate in the apparent absence of disease may provide a unique model for the study of human AIDS and the development of an effective vaccine.
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D002521:Cercopithecus / Q000382:microbiology*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops / Q000382:microbiology*; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral; D017977:Deltaretrovirus / Q000276:immunology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000382:microbiology; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D014779:Virus Replication
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins