Characteristics of CD4+ T cells which transfer murine AIDS (MAIDS).
The murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS) is caused in susceptible C57BL/6 (B6) mice by a defective murine leukemia virus (MuLV) and resembles human AIDS in several respects. The disease is characterized by hypergammaglobulinemia, polyclonal B cell activation, lymphadenopathy, and generalized immunosuppression within 5-8 weeks postinfection. The virus has been shown to infect B cells and macrophages and both T and B cells are required for MAIDS development. The manner in which T cells contribute to the disease process is not known. We report here that this retroviral infection leads to induction of a Thy-CD4+T cell subpopulation capable of transferring all the symptoms of MAIDS disease to normal B6 and B6 nu/nu. Essentially 100% of T cells recovered from B6 nu/nu mice, injected with CD4+ T cells from B6 MAIDS animal, is of the Thy-CD4+ phenotype. The proliferation of these T cells in culture and their ability to cause MAIDS in SCID mice is totally dependent on the presence of B cells. These T cells do not exhibit significant V beta restriction of their T cell receptors (TCR) and, by PCR analysis, have defective virus-specific sequences in the cellular genome. By several criteria, however, these cells do not produce the infectious virus. These results suggest that a B-cell-dependent population of CD4+ T cells from MAIDS animals, in the absence of detectable infectious virus production, has the ability to transfer MAIDS-like disease.
Donaldson
L A
LA
Immunotoxicology Section, Lovelace Institutes, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108.
Cheng
R
R
Savage
S M
SM
Sopori
M L
ML
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000209:etiology; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D001483:Base Sequence; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D003673:Defective Viruses / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D009052:Leukemia Virus, Murine / Q000235:genetics; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008211:Lymphocyte Cooperation; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008819:Mice, Nude; D016513:Mice, SCID; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016183:Murine Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology
D017931:DNA Primers