title: Investigation of the potential role of membrane CD38 in protection against cell death induced by HIV-1.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess the possibility that mCD38, a bifunctional ectoenzyme with NAD+ hydrolase and ADP ribose cyclase activities, exerts a protective role in the development of acute, non-syncytial cell death from HIV-1. This hypothesis was tested in a panel of human T-cell lines with defined membrane CD4 (mCD4) expression. A negative correlation was found between the levels of mCD38 expression and the rate of acute cell death from HIV-1 observed 96 h after infection. The negligible rate of cell death from HIV-1 detected in some cell lines (H9 and Supt-1) is apparently unrelated to the level of mCD4 expression, whereas the association with high levels of mCD38 is confirmed. In H9 and Supt-1 cells, the fraction of cells positive to HIV-1 p24 is lower than in the mCD38low cell lines (MT-4, MT-2, C8166). This suggests that high CD38 expression is correlated to resistance to HIV-1 infection, resulting in a lower rate of cell death. A further finding supporting the work hypothesis is that the addition of nicotinamide, a reaction product of CD38, confers to MT-4 cells (mCD38low) partial protection against acute cell death from HIV-1. This indicates that nicotinamide may be at least partially responsible for the correlation observed between high levels of mCD38 and negligible rates of acute cell death from HIV-1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Savarino
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pugliese
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martini
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Pich
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Pescarmona
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Malavasi
mesh_terms: D036541:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase; D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1; D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D017209:Apoptosis; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000821:virology; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D009699:N-Glycosyl Hydrolases / Q000502:physiology*; D009536:Niacinamide / Q000502:physiology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D009536:Niacinamide; D009699:N-Glycosyl Hydrolases; D036541:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase; C498154:CD38 protein, human; D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1