A HUMAN T-CELL LINE WITH AN ABNORMAL TRISOMY 2 KARYOTYPE ESTABLISHED BY COCULTURE OF PERIPHERAL LYMPHOCYTES WITH AN HTLV-II-INFECTED SIMIANLEUKOCYTE CELL-LINE

A new human T cell line with a chromosomal abnormality (47, XY, +2), d esignated AS-IIA, was established by coculturing peripheral blood leuk ocytes of a healthy adult male with a lethally irradiated human T lymp hotropic virus type II (HTLV-II)-infected simian leukocyte cell line ( Si-IIA). A polymerase chain reaction method showed that this interleuk in-2 (IL-2)-dependent cell line possessed the HTLV-II provirus genome; the cells also reacted with HTLV-II-positive human sera, anti-HTLV-I/ II p24, and anti-HTLV-II gp46 antibodies. AS-IIA cells expressed the s uppressor/cytotoxic T cell markers CD3+, CD4-, CD8+, CD25+, and HLA-DR +, with later conversion to CDB-. These cells showed better proliferat ion than other human HTLV-II-infected cell lines with normal karyotype s, but were not transplantable into severe combined immunodeficiency m ice. Virus production from AS-IIA was confirmed not only by electron m icroscopic examination, which revealed mature and immature type C viru s particles, but also by the capacity of the line to immortalize human T cells. These results suggest that HTLV-II shows broad tropism for T cells including CD4+ or CD8+, and that not only Si-IIA, but also AS-I IA, are good sources of HTLV-II. The authors of the present study beli eve that AS-IIA may be a useful human T cell line for the investigatio n of HTLV-II in comparison with HTLV-I.