CHARACTERISTICS OF CD4-CELLS WHICH TRANSFER MURINE AIDS (MAIDS)( T)

The murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS) is caused in sus ceptible C57BL/6 (B6) mice by a defective murine leukemia virus (MuLV) and resembles human AIDS in several respects. The disease is characte rized by hypergammaglobulinemia, polyclonal B cell activation, lymphad enopathy, and generalized immunosuppression within 5-8 weeks postinfec tion. The virus has been shown to infect B cells and macrophages and b oth T and B cells are required for MAIDS development. The manner in wh ich T cells contribute to the disease process is not known. We report here that this retroviral infection leads to induction of a Thy-CD4(+) T cell subpopulation capable of transferring all the symptoms of MAID S disease to normal B6 and B6 nu/nu. Essentially 100% of T cells recov ered from B6 nu/nu mice, injected with CD4(+) T cells from B6 MAIDS an imal, is of the Thy-CD4(+) phenotype. The proliferation of these T cel ls in culture and their ability to cause MAIDS in SCID mice is totally dependent on the presence of B cells. These T cells do not exhibit si gnificant V beta restriction of their T cell receptors (TCR) and, by P CR analysis, have defective virus-specific sequences in the cellular g enome. By several criteria, however, these cells do not produce the in fectious virus. These results suggest that a B-cell-dependent populati on of CD4(+) T cells from MAIDS animals, in the absence of detectable infectious virus production, has the ability to transfer MAIDS-like di sease. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.