Epidermal langerhans cells of AIDS patients express HIV-1 regulatory and structural genes.
In this study we searched for the presence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1)-spliced mRNA in epidermal cells from AIDS patients. Using reverse polymerase chain reaction and Southern hybridization we detected mRNA for HIV-1 regulatory (tat, rev, nef) and structural genes (env) in epidermal cells highly enriched for Langerhans cells, but not in Langerhans cell-depleted epidermal cells in two of three HIV-1-infected patients tested. In contrast to the expression of HIV-1 mRNA, T-cell-specific mRNA was readily detectable in all preparations of Langerhans cell-depleted but in only one preparation of Langerhans cell-enriched epidermal cells. This indicates that contaminating T cells are a very unlikely source of virus-specific mRNA in our epidermal cell preparations. Our data suggest that Langerhans cells are the main, if not the only, cell type infected with HIV-1 within the epidermis of AIDS patients and demonstrate that HIV-1 regulatory as well as structural genes are transcribed in these cells.
Henry
M
M
Department of Dermatology, University of Vienna Medical School, Austria.
Uthman
A
A
Ballaun
C
C
Stingl
G
G
Tschachler
E
E
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D001483:Base Sequence; D017252:CD3 Complex / Q000032:analysis; D002499:Centrifugation, Density Gradient; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D005814:Genes, Viral; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation; D007801:Langerhans Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D017252:CD3 Complex; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins