title: Visualization of X4- and R5-Tropic HIV-1 Viruses Expressing Fluorescent Proteins in Human Endometrial Cells: Application to Tropism Study.
abstract: Worldwide most HIV infections occur through heterosexual transmission, involving complex interactions of cell-free and cell-associated particles with cells of the female genital tract mucosa. The ability of HIV-1 to "infect" epithelial cells remains poorly understood. To address this question, replicative-competent chimeric constructs expressing fluorescent proteins and harboring the envelope of X4- or R5-tropic HIV-1 strains were used to "infect" endometrial HEC1-A cells. The virus-cell interactions were visualized using confocal microscopy (CM) at various times post infection. Combined with quantification of viral RNA and total HIV DNA in infected cells, the CM pictures suggest that epithelial cells do not support a complete viral replication cycle: X4-tropic viruses are imported into the nucleus in a non-productive way, whereas R5-tropic viruses transit through the cytoplasm without replication and are preferentially transmitted to susceptible activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Within the limit of experiments conducted in vitro on a continued cell line, these results indicate that the epithelial mucosa may participate to the selection of HIV-1 strains at the mucosal level.
authors.affiliation: Groupe Immunité des Muqueuses et Agents Pathogènes EA3064, University of Lyon, Faculté de Médecine Jacques Lisfranc de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne cedex 02, France.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Terrasse
authors.affiliation: Groupe Immunité des Muqueuses et Agents Pathogènes EA3064, University of Lyon, Faculté de Médecine Jacques Lisfranc de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne cedex 02, France.
authors.forename: Meriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Memmi
authors.affiliation: Centre de Microscopie Confocale Multiphotonique, Université Jean Monnet, Pôle Optique et Vision, Saint-Etienne cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Palle
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Heyndrickx
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.|Faculty of Biomedical, Pharmaceutical and Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vanham
authors.affiliation: Groupe Immunité des Muqueuses et Agents Pathogènes EA3064, University of Lyon, Faculté de Médecine Jacques Lisfranc de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne cedex 02, France.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pozzetto
authors.affiliation: Groupe Immunité des Muqueuses et Agents Pathogènes EA3064, University of Lyon, Faculté de Médecine Jacques Lisfranc de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne cedex 02, France.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bourlet
mesh_terms: D004717:Endometrium; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology*; D019713:Receptors, CCR5 / Q000378:metabolism*; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000378:metabolism*; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D056189:Viral Tropism
chemical_list: D019713:Receptors, CCR5; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins