Cytokine production by endothelial cells infected with human T cell lymphotropic virus type I.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the ability of human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) to infect endothelial cells and induce cytokine production by these cells.


METHODS
Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were cocultured with HTLV-I infected T cell line (MT-2 cells) or uninfected T cell line (CEM cells).


RESULTS
Following coculture with MT-2 cells, endothelial cells expressed HTLV-I specific core antigens. Endothelial cells cocultured with MT-2 cells produced significant amounts of several cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1 alpha, IL-6, granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), and granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), compared with endothelial cells cocultured with CEM cells. Coculturing of endothelial cells with MT-2 and CEM cells failed to produce detectable amounts of IL-1 beta and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). The production of cytokines by endothelial cells cocultured with MT-2 cells was more persistent than that by endothelial cells cocultured with CEM cells after several passages. Furthermore, the production was blocked by cocultivation of endothelial cells and MT-2 cells using the Millicell system. Finally, after cocultivation of endothelial cells and MT-2 cells, endothelial cells positive for HTLV-I antigen were stained by anti-GM-CSF antibody.


CONCLUSIONS
HTLV-I can infect endothelial cells, resulting in their active production of several cytokines, such as IL-1 alpha, IL-6, G-CSF, and GM-CSF. These findings strongly suggest that the excess production of these cytokines by HTLV-I infected endothelial cells may be involved in the pathogenesis of HTLV-I associated inflammatory diseases.
Takashima
H
H
First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University, Japan.
Eguchi
K
K
Kawakami
A
A
Kawabe
Y
Y
Migita
K
K
Sakai
M
M
Origuchi
T
T
Nagataki
S
S
D002460:Cell Line; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D006800:Deltaretrovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
D016207:Cytokines; D007375:Interleukin-1; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor