title: Syncytium formation by recombinant HTLV-II envelope glycoprotein.
abstract: Infection by human T-cell leukemia viruses (HTLV-I and HTLV-II) induces syncytium formation in certain cell types in vitro. Recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing the HTLV-II envelope (Env) gp61-II were used to infect human cells, and syncytium formation was observed, demonstrating that HTLV-II Env expression was sufficient to mediate syncytium formation in appropriate cells. This syncytium formation could be blocked by sera from HTLV-II-infected individuals. Infection with these recombinant vaccinia viruses caused fusion in mouse/human hybrid cells containing only human chromosome 17, whereas there was no obvious syncytium formation in mouse cells. This fusogenic phenotype of recombinant gp61-II is likely a property of the specific interaction between HTLV-II envelope protein and the HTLV cellular receptor, encoded by a gene that was previously indicated to be on human chromosome 17. On this basis, we developed a sensitive syncytium formation assay, using lacZ gene activation, for detecting the presence of the HTLV receptor(s). We used this fusion assay to test for HTLV receptor activity on a variety of cells. Our findings indicate that the HTLV receptor is widely distributed among species and cell types, including, to a limited extent, murine cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Q X
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Camerini
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Greenwald
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Kuritzkes
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000821:virology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015686:Gene Products, env; D011991:Receptors, Virus; D011994:Recombinant Proteins