HUMAN HERPESVIRUS-7 INFECTION OF LYMPHOID AND MYELOID CELL-LINES TRANSDUCED WITH AN ADENOVIRUS VECTOR CONTAINING THE CD4 GENE

It has been reported recently that CD4 is a major component of the rec eptor for human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7), which has been newly identified as a T-lymphotropic virus. To investigate further the role of CD4 in HHV-7 infection, we examined the susceptibility to HHV-7 infection of various CD4-negative or weakly positive cell lines into which the cDNA for CD4 was transferred using an adenovirus vector (Adex1CACD4). Of 1 3 cell lines transduced with Adex1CACD4, including T-lymphoid, B-lymph oid, monocytoid, and myeloid cell lines, one T-lymphoid cell line, one monocytoid cell line, and two cell lines established from the blast c risis of chronic myelogenous leukemia showed high susceptibility to HH V-7 infection, Taken together with the results of previous studies, th ese data suggest strongly that CD4 is a major component of the binding receptor for HHV-7. This study also shows that HHV-7 may be able to i nfect CD4-positive hematopoietic precursor cells as well as T lymphocy tes.