PRODUCTIVE EXPRESSION STATE CONFERS RESISTANCE OF HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS (HIV)-2-INFECTED LYMPHOMA-CELLS AGAINST SUPERINFECTION BY HIV-1

In the past, positive as well as negative results pertaining to HIV-1/ HIV-2 interference have been obtained. Therefore, in the present study attention was paid to the viral expression state of preinfected cells at the time of exposure to secondary virus. A clonal HIV-2 infected H UT-78 cell line was derived by endpoint dilution and subsequently inoc ulated with cell-free HIV-1. Superinfection with HIV-1 was ruled out b y Western blot and PCR analysis. The chronically HIV-2 infected cells used for these studies showed a highly productive expression state, as evidenced by immunoperoxidase staining (IPS), Western blot profile an d levels of reverse transcriptase (RT) activity. We discuss several me chanisms of interference in productively infected cells, which may con fer resistance to superinfection with secondary virus.