title: Binding of HIV-1 virions to α4β 7 expressing cells and impact of antagonizing α4β 7 on HIV-1 infection of primary CD4+ T cells.
abstract: HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein is reported to interact with α4β7, an integrin mediating the homing of lymphocytes to gut-associated lymphoid tissue, but the significance of α4β7 in HIV-1 infection remains controversial. Here, using HIV-1 strain BaL, the gp120 of which was previously shown to be capable of interacting with α4β7, we demonstrated that α4β7 can mediate the binding of whole HIV-1 virions to α4β7-expressing transfectants. We further constructed a cell line stably expressing α4β7 and confirmed the α4β7-mediated HIV-1 binding. In primary lymphocytes with activated α4β7 expression, we also observed significant virus binding which can be inhibited by an anti-α4β7 antibody. Moreover, we investigated the impact of antagonizing α4β7 on HIV-1 infection of primary CD4(+) T cells. In α4β7-activated CD4(+) T cells, both anti-α4β7 antibodies and introduction of short-hairpin RNAs specifically targeting α4β7 resulted in a decreased HIV-1 infection. Our findings indicate that α4β7 may serve as an attachment factor at least for some HIV-1 strains. The established approach provides a promising means for the investigation of other viral strains to understand the potential roles of α4β7 in HIV-1 infection.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China.
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yalan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Robin J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Shattock
authors.forename: Qinxue
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016023:Integrins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014771:Virion / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D053585:Virus Attachment
chemical_list: D016023:Integrins; D011991:Receptors, Virus; C071777:integrin alpha4beta7