ROLE OF ENDOGENOUS INTERFERON-BETA IN THE RESTRICTION OF HIV REPLICATION IN HUMAN MONOCYTE MACROPHAGES/

In vitro culture of human monocytes results in a time-dependent differ entiation into macrophages. Monocyte/macrophages were infected with HI V-1(Ba-L) at different times after isolation and subsequent culture. W hen 7-day macrophag es were infected in the presence of antibodies to interfefon-beta (IFN-beta), a significant increase in HIV-1 p24 releas e was observed. This effect was not detected in 1-day monocytes. Treat ment of 7-day cultured macrophages with HIV-1 rgp120 resulted in resis tance to vesicular stomatitis virus infection. This rgp120-induced ant iviral state was neutralized in the presence of antibodies to IFN-beta . The overall results indicate that the infection of monocyte/macropha ges with HIV-1 results in the induction of IFN-beta, which, in turn, i nhibits HIV-1 expression in macrophages. The finding that HIV-1 itself (possibly through its gp120) can induce a potent antiviral factor (IF N-beta) in macrophages underlines the complex physiological function o f these cells in maintaining normal homeostasis in vivo in response to virus infection.