title: Spontaneous substitutions in the vicinity of the V3 analog affect cell tropism and pathogenicity of simian immunodeficiency virus.
abstract: Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) exists within tissues of infected macaques as a mixture of diverse genotypes. The goal of this study was to investigate the biologic significance of this variation in terms of cellular tropism and pathogenicity. PCR was used to amplify and clone 3'-half genomes from the spleen of an immunodeficiency SIV-infected pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina). Eight infectious clones were generated by ligation of respective 3' clones into a related SIVsm 5' clone, and virus stocks were generated by transient transfection. Four of these viruses were infectious for macaque peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) or monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM). Three viruses with distinct tropism for macaque PBMC or MDM were tested for in vivo infectivity and pathogenicity. The ability of these three viruses to infect PBMC and macrophages correlated with differences in infectivity and pathogenicity. Thus, a virus that was infectious for both PBMC and MDM was highly infectious for macaques and induced AIDS in half of the inoculated animals. In contrast, virus that was less infectious for PBMC and not infectious for MDM induced only transient viremia. Finally, a virus that was not infectious for either primary cell type did not infect macaques. Chimeric clones exchanging portions of the envelope gene of the 62A and smH4 molecular clones and a series of point mutants were used to map the determinant of tropism to a 60-amino-acid region of gp120 encompassing the V3 analog of SIV. Naturally occurring mutations within this region were critical for determining tropism and, as a result, pathogenicity of these SIVsm clones.
authors.affiliation: Immunodeficiency Viruses Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Rockville, MD 20852.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dapolito
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Elkins
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: London
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000235:genetics*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000382:microbiology; D008251:Macaca; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017354:Point Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D016097:Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000382:microbiology*; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013154:Spleen / Q000382:microbiology; D014162:Transfection; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins
chemical_list: D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C069623:gp120 protein, Simian immunodeficiency virus