INFECTION OF MACROPHAGES WITH LYMPHOTROPIC HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 CAN BE ARRESTED AFTER VIRAL-DNA SYNTHESIS

Lymphotropic strains Of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), i ncluding HTLV-IIIB, replicate poorly in macrophages. We have shown pre viously that lymphotropic HIV-1 fuses equally well with T lymphocytes and macrophages (M. J. Potash, M. Zeira, Z.-B. Huang, T. Pearce, E. Ed en, H. Gendelman, and D. J. Volsky, Virology 188:864-868, 1992), sugge sting that events in the virus life cycle following virus-cell fusion limit virus replication. We report here that HIV-1 DNA is synthesized efficiently in either ADA or HTLV-IIIB infected alveolar macrophages o r monocyte-derived macrophages within 24 h of virus infection, as obse rved by polymerase chain reaction for amplification of viral DNA seque nces from the gag gene. Infection by a cloned lymphotropic HIV-1 strai n, N1T-A, also leads to viral DNA synthesis. However, circular viral D NA was detected during strain ADA infection but not during HTLV-IIIB o r N1T-A infection of monocyte-derived macrophages. These findings indi cate that during replication of lymphotropic HIV-1 in macrophages, all steps of the virus life cycle up to and including reverse transcripti on take place and that defects in later events, including DNA migratio n to the nucleus, may account for the limited production of viral prot eins.