Ba. Watkins et al., EXPRESSION OF CD26 DOES NOT CORRELATE WITH THE REPLICATION OF MACROPHAGE-TROPIC STRAINS OF HIV-1 IN T-CELL LINES, Virology, 224(1), 1996, pp. 276-280
Strains of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) differ signific
antly in both genetic content and biological properties. One of the ea
rliest discovered differences between HIV-1 strains was divergence in
the relative ability of different strains to replicate in either T-cel
l lines or monocytes/macrophages. This observation has led to the sugg
estion that molecules present on the surface of HIV-susceptible cells
other than CD4 may interact with gp120 in facilitating the entry of HI
V-1 into host cell populations. Several reports have suggested that CD
26, a cell surface protease expressed on many cells of the immune syst
em including some CD4(+) T-cells and macrophage, may be an accessory m
olecule for HIV-1 entry. Recently, it has also been reported that the
expression of high levels of CD26 correlates with the entry and replic
ation of macrophage-tropic strains of HIV-1 in a T-cell line. In this
report, we demonstrate that replication of macrophage-tropic strains o
f HIV-1 in T-cell lines is independent of CD26 expression, From this o
bservation, we conclude that CD26 plays no role in the entry of HIV-1
into these cells. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.