






,1
* Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California;
New England Research Institutes, Watertown, Massachusetts;
Department of Pathology, University of Florida, Gainsville, Florida;
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas, Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas;
|| Department of Pathology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California;
¶ Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Communicative Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas;
** Department of Immunology/Microbiology, Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois;

Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Correspondence: Janet L. Lathey, Ph.D., Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr. #0672, La Jolla, CA 92093-0672. E-mail: jlathey{at}uesd.edu
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Key Words: macrophage tropism viral phenotype HIV co-receptors HIV replication kinetics
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Viral culture
Viral stocks of cloned viruses and viral isolates were grown and
titered in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). PBMC were
separated by Ficoll-Hypaque density centrifugation and cultured for
13 days in medium (RPMI-1640 with glutamine, penicillin [100 U/ml]/streptomycin [100 g/ml], and 20% FBS) containing PHA (2.5
µg/ml) and 3% interleukin-2 (IL-2). On day of infection, media were
removed and 1 ml of supernatant viral samples were added to 10 million
PBMC. After 1 h, 9 ml of medium, which contained 5% IL-2, was
added to each sample. Half of the media were replaced on days 3, 10,
and 17 PI. On days 7 and 14, 10 million PHA-stimulated PBMC were added
and medium volume was doubled (concentration maintained at 1 million
cells/ml). Supernatant harvested on day 21 was titered by limiting
dilution culture on PHA-stimulated PBMC. TCID50 was
calculated by the method of Spearman-Karber.
Macrophage isolation and culture
Macrophage cultures were performed according to the consensus
protocol of the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group. PBMC were
separated by Ficoll-Hypaque density centrifugation. After two washes
with PBS, PBMC were suspended at a concentration of 2.5 x
106/ml in RPMI-1640 with glutamine and penicillin (100
U/ml)/streptomycin (100 g/ml) (medium) and plated at 1 ml per well in
24-well plates. After 1 h, 1 ml of medium containing 20% FBS was
added (10% FBS final concentration). After 3 days, half of the medium
with 10% FBS was replaced in each well. After 7 days of culture, cells
(macrophages) were vigorously washed three times with PBS. Macrophages
were cultured and additional 3 days, then infected with either HIV-1
isolates or prototype viral strains. At this time, the cells were
95100% esterase positive. Supernatants were harvested on days 3, 7,
10, and 14 from duplicate wells and assayed for HIV-1 p24 antigen by
ELISA. Macrophage cultures were set up in three independent
laboratories for SF162/BRU comparison and four laboratories for all
other comparisons. The cloned prototype viral strains (SF162 and BRU)
were included as controls in all experiments.
Viral phenotype assay
Syncytium induction was determined by use of MT-2 cells [9
].
Viral isolates that replicated in PBMC, as determined by p24 antigen
production, and formed syncytia on MT-2 cells were considered to be SI.
Viral isolates that replicated in PBMC and did not form syncytia on
MT-2 cells were considered NSI.
Co-receptor assay
Co-receptor usage was determined on the basis of entry into
quail QT6 cells that were cotransfected with CD4 and CCR5, CXCR4, CCR2b
or CCR3. One day after transfection, cells were infected with 3000
TCID50 of Dnase-treated virus and then lysed 2 days later.
Cell lysates were amplified by PCR using primers directed at conserved
LTR sequences that detect early viral reverse transcription products,
followed by Southern blot with an oligonucleotide probe. Details of
this assay, primers, and probe have been described previously [8
].
Controls included cells transfected with CD4 alone, heat inactivated
virus, and prototype HIV-1 strains with established patterns of
co-receptor use. Definite co-receptor use was considered viral entry
clearly detected in three of three replicate experiments, whereas
detection in one or two of three replicates was considered intermediate
use.
Genotype analysis
The V3 loop of the ENV gene was sequenced using either DNA from
infected PBMC culture pellets or virion RNA from culture supernatants.
DNA from pellets was prepared by cell lysis as described in the DAIDS
Virology Manual [9
]. Sequencing templates were then generated by PCR
amplification using nested primers described by Simmonds et al. [10
].
The outer primers +6957 and -7381 and the inner primers +7009 and
-7331 were used. Viral RNA was extracted using the Nuclisens Isolation
kit (Organon-Teknika, Durham, NC). The RNA was reversed-transcribed
using AMV-RT and random hexamers (Promega, Madison, WI). The cDNA was
then amplified using the PE Biosystems (Foster City, CA) XL PCR Kit by
kit instructions with 250 pM primers MSF12 and MSR5 [11
]. A 1.5-kb
product was made under the conditions described above for +6957/-7381
from these amplicons but using primers env 1
(5'TCACAGTHTATTATGGGGTACCTGT) and env 2 (5'ATAATTGTCTGGCCTGTACCGTCA).
Sequencing templates were then generated using the +6957/-7381 and
+7009/-7331 protocols described above. Sequencing reactions were
performed using the ABI Prism Big Dye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready
Reaction Kit (PE Biosystems) according to kit instructions using +7009
and -7331 as overlapping sequencing primers. Data were analyzed using
ABI Prism software, DNA Sequencing Analysis 3.0, Factura 2.0, and Auto
Assembler 2.0. Nucleic acid sequences were translated and amino acid
sequences aligned and compared.
Statistical analysis
The HIV p24 antigen values were transformed to base 10
logarithms and the transformed duplicate values were averaged before
data analysis. Values that were <10 pg/ml were set at 1 pg/ml before
log transformation. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to
compare average HIV p24 antigen levels at each time point among
isolates, controlling for laboratory, and to compare changes from day 3
among isolates, again controlling for laboratory. This approach was
also used to compare HIV p24 antigen levels at each time point and
changes since day 3 in SI and NSI viruses and in groups of isolates
defined by co-receptor use. Interactions between laboratory and
isolate, between laboratory and type (SI vs. NSI), and between
laboratory and co-receptor class were included in the initial models to
determine if results varied over laboratories. No statistically
significant variation among laboratories was identified, so the
interactions were removed form the final models.
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![]() View larger version (35K): [in a new window] |
Figure 1. Replication patterns in macrophages of prototype strains and clinical
isolates. A) SF162 vs. BRU, n = 3 assays.
B) NSI clinical isolates [8
] vs. SI clinical isolates [4
],
n = 4 assays of each isolate. Left,
Mean ± SD log10 HIV p24, P value is given
in parenthesis for difference between SF162 and BRU or NSI and SI for
day 3, 7, 10, and 14 PI. Right, Mean ± SD
log10 change from baseline for days 7, 10, 14
(log10 HIV p24 antigen for day 7, 10, or 14 PI
log10 HIV p24 antigen for 3). P value is given
in parenthesis for difference between SF162 and BRU or NSI and SI for
day 7, 10, and 14.
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View this table: [in a new window] |
Table 1. Genotype and Phenotype of Viruses in MTVK Panel
|
6. The sample with two isolates contained one SI (charge =
+6) and one NSI (charge = +3). Thus, the lack of difference in
replication kinetics between NSI and SI isolates could not totally be
explained by the presence of mixed isolates.
Co-receptor usage of isolates
Multiple co-receptor usage by the isolates might also help explain
the lack of difference for replication in macrophages. Co-receptor
usage was determined for all 12 isolates and the 2 prototype viruses
(Table 1) . All NSI viruses used at least CCR5. No NSI isolates used
CXCR4 for entry. Use of CXCR4 was exclusively associated with SI
viruses. Two SI isolates could also use CCR5 in addition to CXCR4. One
of these was the mixed isolate. The other could also use CCR3. The two
SI viruses with multiple co- receptor usage did have a higher level of
HIV p24 antigen production than the two that used only CXCR4. Thus,
multiple co-receptor usage could be associated with the lack of
difference in replication kinetics in macrophages between NSI and SI
isolates.
Association of co-receptor usage with replication in macrophages
It is possible that co-receptor usage is more predictive of viral
replication in macrophages than NSI/SI phenotype. To determine whether
co-receptor usage was related to replication kinetics in macrophages,
the 12 clinical isolates (TCID50 = 7,500) were used to
infect macrophages in four independent laboratories. Supernatants were
collected and assayed for HIV p24 antigen on days 3, 7, 10, and 14.
Isolates were divided into four groups according to co-receptor
usage (Fig. 2)
. Group 1 included all isolates that use CCR3 regardless of
other co-receptor usage (n = 3; 1 CCR5+CCR3,
NSI; 1 CCR5+CCR2b+CCR3, NSI; 1 CCR5+CXCR4+CCR3, SI). Group 2 included
isolates tht use CCR2b and CCR5 (n = 2; 2 NSI). Group 3
included isolates that used only CCR5 (n = 4; 4 NSI).
Group 4 included isolates that used only CXCR4 (n = 2;
2 SI). The sample that was a mixture of two isolates was excluded.
Isolates that used CCR3 with any combination of co-receptors produced
the highest levels of HIV p24 antigen at all time points. There was
little to no difference in the levels of HIV p24 antigen produced by
isolates that used CCR5 with or without CCR2b. The lowest level of HIV
p24 antigen production was observed from group 4, the isolates that
only used CXCR4. The level of p24 production in the CXCR4-only group
was significantly lower at all time points than all other groups
(P < 0.05). Thus, isolates that used CCR4 had the
least ability to replicate in macrophages, whereas isolates that used
CCR3 and CCR5, including the isolate that was SI and used CXCR4,
replicated to the highest level.
![]() View larger version (25K): [in a new window] |
Figure 2. Replication patterns in macrophages of co-receptor groups, CCR3 (3)
includes CCR3 plus any other receptor, CCR2b (2) includes CCR2b plus
CCR5, CCR5 (4) includes only CCR5, and CXCR4 (2) includes only CXCR4,
means ± SD are plotted, n = 4 assays of each
isolate. For all time points, the mean log10 HIV p24
antigen values for CXCR4 were significantly different from all other
groups, P < 0.05.
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View this table: [in a new window] |
Table 2. Log10 HIV p24 Antigen Production Sorted by TCID
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Several aspects of the primary isolate macrophage-replication patterns were notable. In contrast to the T-tropic X4 prototype strain BRU, both CXCR4-restricted primary isolates replicated in macrophages, based on HIV p24 antigen levels that increased over time (Table 1 and Figs. 1 2 ). This result is consistent with recent studies showing that CXCR4 is a functional co-receptor on macrophages for some primary isolates [12 13 14 15 ]. However, the peak antigen levels reached by the CXCR4-restricted strains were modest compared with those produced by isolates that used CCR5, which emphasizes that for these strains CCR5 is a more efficient pathway for macrophage infection than CXCR4.
Primary HIV-1 isolates are typically grouped as M-tropic/NSI versus T-tropic/SI. Among these isolates, however, CXCR4 use was tightly associated with the SI phenotype regardless of other co-receptors used, and CCR5 use was associated with greater replication in macrophages regardless of CXCR4 use. Thus, whereas M-tropic and NSI phenotypes are frequently co-associated, these results show that the phenotypes of SI versus NSI, and efficient versus inefficient macrophage infection, are independently governed by the use of distinct co-receptors and should not be considered reciprocal features of the same phenotype. In contrast, replication in transformed cell lines (the T-tropic phenotype) and syncytia formation in MT-2 cells (the SI phenotype) are both determined by CXCR4 utilization, so these two biological characteristics are both phenotypically and mechanistically linked. A previous report [16 ] correlates number of basic amino acid substitutions in V3 with SI/NSI phenotype. In our study, SI viruses display a higher net positive charge than NSI viruses. Furthermore, a high V3 charge was closely associated with CXCR4 utilization rather than with lack of CCR5 use, because the mean V3 charge was 6.3 for isolates restricted to CXCR4, 6.0 for CXCR4/CCR5 isolates, and 3 for strains that used CCR5 with or without other non-CXCR4 co-receptors. Our data, then, suggest that the V3 charge is related directly to CXCR4 utilization and that factors in addition to V3 charge distribution may impact CCR5 usage.
We found that isolates that used CCR3 in addition to CCR5 had the highest levels of replication in macrophages. However, it is unlikely that these strains replication advantage is a result of entry into macrophages through CCR3 in addition to CCR5, because little if any CCR3 is expressed by macrophages [17 , 18 ], and macrophages that lack CCR5 cannot be infected by HIV-1 isolates that use CCR3 [19 ]. In addition, we did not observe any CCR3 expression on the macrophages grown using this protocol (data not shown). Instead, it is more likely that co-utilization of CCR3 is a marker for some other factor such as more efficient CCR5 utilization. Use of CCR3 in addition to CCR5 indicates that a viral envelope can use a range of related co-receptor structures. This might reflect a more "fusogenic" envelope glycoprotein or might be associated with more efficient use of CCR5 if there are conformational variations or post-translational modifications of CCR5 in primary cells that limit use by isolates that are more restricted to specific structure.
In this study we observed that NSI/SI phenotype was not an adequate predictor of HIV replication in macrophages or complete co-receptor usage. The range in viral replication patterns we have observed is supported by a previous report by Simmons et al. [20 ]. They described a continuum of relative levels of HIV p24 antigen production from clinical isolates grown in macrophages. In addition, there are clinical situations that have required additional evaluations beyond NSI/SI phenotyping. These include the areas of transmission and disease progression. In one such study by Yu et al. [21 ] of 12 seroconverters, 3 were thought to be infected by SI viruses based on NSI/SI phenotyping. However, after genotypic and macrophage culture analysis, two of three viruses were found to be dual tropic and the third a mixed population of SI and NSI variants. Thus, NSI/SI phenotyping had given an incomplete picture.
Transmission of HIV from mother to infant is an area complicated by
viral phenotype issues. Infants are most often infected with NSI
viruses. However, a low percentage of mothers with NSI viruses actually
transmit HIV to their infants [22
]. In addition, mothers with SI
viruses who transmit usually transmit NSI viruses to their infants.
Thus, phenotyping alone is not a good predictor of transmission. In
studies that looked at only qualitative growth (replication positive or
negative) in macrophages, there were no differences in the ability of
viruses from transmitters or nontransmitters, whether SI or NSI, to
replicate in macrophages. Most were capable of replication in
macrophages [23
24
25
]. This is similar to our results observed with the
panel of isolates described in this report; all were capable of some
level of replication in macrophages. However, when the macrophage
replication kinetics of isolates from transmitters and nontransmitters
were evaluated differences were observed. Lathey et al. [23
] showed
that isolates taken at delivery from transmitters compared wth
nontransmitters had increasing replication kinetics in macrophages
(0.65 ± 0.21 vs. 0.07 ± 0.11 log10 HIV p24
antigen increase between days 11 and 15 PI, respectively). Of these
80%, four of five of the transmitter isolates had increases of
log10 HIV p24 antigen
0.5 log10
compared with only 17% (1/12) of nontransmitters. Thus, for
mother-to-infant transmission, NSI phenotype or qualitative growth in
macrophages could not differentiate transmitters from nontransmitters.
However, the replication kinetics in macrophages were predictive of
transmission.
Viral phenotype issues also complicate disease progression studies. The SI phenotype has been associated with progression to AIDS, however, 50% of individuals can progress to AIDS with only NSI isolates [3 , 4 ]. In a study by Blaak et al. [26 ] isolates from long-term survivors (LTS) and progressors were all NSI isolates, however, they could be differentiated when they were examined for replication kinetics in vitro. Early in the course of infection, viruses from 5/7 LTS and 3/3 progressors had a low replicative rate. Late in infection, only viruses from 4/7 LTS remained with a low replicative rate. However, all viruses, including the high-replicating viruses, remained NSI. Thus, individuals with NSI viruses early in disease retained NSI viruses late in disease, but the replication rate of the NSI viruses had increased. In addition, at the time of isolation of viruses with high replicative rate in vitro, high levels of HIV RNA in serum were observed in vivo. This suggests that changes in replication kinetics of NSI isolates that are observed in vitro may be associated with viral load in vivo. This association could not have been made from simply NSI/SI phenotyping, because all viruses were NSI.
In summary, we have shown that NSI/SI phenotyping is not sufficient for the prediction of replication of HIV isolates in macrophages or predicting co-receptor usage of dual tropic isolates. Co-receptor usage is predictive of growth in macrophages with viruses using only CXCR4 having the lowest level of replication. However, there is a range of levels of replication by viruses using CCR5, with the addition of CCR3-increasing viral replication in macrophages. For clinical evaluations, it may be necessary to do some combination of viral growth kinetics and co-receptor analyses in addition to NSI/SI phenotyping.
The following grant support was used in part for this project: SSS-97PVCL01 and SSS-97PICL04 (J. L. L.), NO-AI-35712 and NO-AI-85354 (D. B., J. W. B., D. D. H.), HD-32259, HL-58005, AI-39015 (M. M. G.), Rasheed Research Fund at USC School of Medicine (S. R.), AACTG Immunology Support Laboratory at UTMB (M. N.), Eugene B. Casey Foundation at Baylor College of Medicine (E. B. S.), and AI-35502 (R. G. C.).
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