title: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 causes productive infection of macrophages in primary placental cell cultures.
abstract: To characterize the role of the placenta in vertical transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the susceptibility of primary human placental cultures and of transformed trophoblast cell lines to infection by several HIV-1 isolates was examined. Placental cultures supported the replication of all strains tested, including lymphocyte-, macrophage-, and amphotropic isolates. All viruses replicated to modest levels, with production of both viral antigen and infectious virus in the culture supernatants. Placental cells demonstrated a pattern of permissiveness for HIV-1 isolates distinct from that seen with lymphocytes, blood-derived macrophages, or T cell lines. Immunofluorescent staining showed that 5%-10% of the cultured placental cells expressed viral antigens, and double labeling revealed that the HIV-positive cells were macrophages not trophoblasts. None of the trophoblast cell line (JEG-3, Jar, BeWo, HP-W1) could be infected by HIV. These results support the hypothesis that infection of the placenta could play a role in maternofetal transmission of HIV-1 and suggest that the placental macrophage is likely to be the primary cell type responsible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: McGann
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Collman
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kolson
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Scarano
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coukos
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coutifaris
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Strauss
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nathanson
mesh_terms: D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002822:Choriocarcinoma; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology*; D010920:Placenta / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D014327:Trophoblasts / Q000382:microbiology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D015488:HIV Antigens