S. Sonza et al., ACCUMULATION OF UNINTEGRATED CIRCULAR VIRAL-DNA IN MONOCYTES AND GROWTH-ARRESTED T-CELLS FOLLOWING INFECTION WITH HIV-1, Journal of leukocyte biology, 56(3), 1994, pp. 289-293
Cytocidal retrovirus infection is characterized by rapid accumulation
of unintegrated viral DNA forms. These are thought to be generated by
multiple rounds of reinfection and have been suggested to play a centr
al role in cytopathogenesis. Here we have reviewed the work done in th
is area with HIV-1, mostly using acutely and chronically infected T ce
ll and monocytic cell lines and in some cases T cells blocked at S pha
se of the cell cycle by aphidicolin treatment. To these studies, we ha
ve compared our findings with HIV-1 infected primary peripheral blood
monocyte-derived macrophages and untreated and growth-arrested MT-2 ce
lls, two biologically disparate cell populations. Using 1- and 2-long
terminal repeat (LTR) circular forms as indicators of unintegrated vir
al DNA, we found similar rapid accumulation in both untreated and grow
th-arrested MT-2 cells. In contrast, we found much lower levels in mon
ocyte/macrophages. Our findings suggest that accumulation of unintegra
ted viral DNA does not require virus production and reinfection in gro
wth-arrested T cells. The significantly lower levels found in monocyte
/macrophages may reflect superinfection resistance, allowing the maint
enance of a persistent infection.