title: HIV gp120 is an aberrant chemoattractant for blood resting CD4 T cells.
abstract: Binding of HIV gp120 to the chemokine coreceptor CXCR4 mediates signal transduction that promotes actin dynamics critical for the establishment of viral latency in resting CD4 T cells. To some extent, this gp120-mediated signal transduction resembles the chemotactic response mediated by chemokines such as the stromal cell-derived factor-1 alpha (SDF-1). It has been suggested that gp120 functions as a bona fide chemokine to attract or repel blood CD4 T cells. To determine whether gp120 is a viral chemoattractant, we compared the chemotactic properties of gp120 with those of SDF- 1, and confirmed previous observations that gp120 possesses some chemotactic ability at certain dosages. However, when we examined gp120 in a range of dosages, we found that in general, gp120 only attracts or repels blood resting CD4 T cells at a low level, and there is no clear pattern of dosage-dependency as normally seen in a typical chemokine. These irregularities of gp120 were observed in multiple donors. Nevertheless, gp120 aberrantly interferes with SDF-1-mediated T cell chemotaxis and cell migration. These results suggest that gp120 does not act like a typical chemoattractant, although it triggers actin dynamics to facilitate HIV infection.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, Department of Molecular and Microbiology, George Mason University, Manassas, VA 20110, USA.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Xuehua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Yuntao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12 / Q000502:physiology*; D002634:Chemotaxis, Leukocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C515255:CXCL12 protein, human; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120