Alterations in spliced and unspliced HIV-1-specific RNA detection in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of individuals with varying CD4-positive lymphocyte counts.
Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain amplification reactions (RT-PCR) were used to identify transcripts for HIV-1 structural and regulatory proteins in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a cohort of 48 patients. At least one set of PCR primers was capable of detecting HIV-1 transcripts in 94% of patients. Unspliced gag-pol transcripts were detected with gag or pol primer sets in 60 and 63% of samples, respectively. A significant inverse correlation was noted between transcript identification with the gag primer set and the number of CD4-positive lymphocytes in the blood sample and the clinical stage of infection. Single-spliced env transcripts were identified in 44% of individuals. Multiple-spliced tat or nef transcripts were detected in 6.2 and 53% of individuals, respectively. These findings indicate that viral transcripts are expressed throughout the course of HIV-1 infection.
Arens
M
M
Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110.
Joseph
T
T
Nag
S
S
Miller
J P
JP
Powderly
W G
WG
Ratner
L
L
D001483:Base Sequence; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D005814:Genes, Viral; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D017931:DNA Primers; D012367:RNA, Viral