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J. Virol., May 1997, 3498-3506, Vol 71, No. 5
AL Howell, RD Edkins, SE Rier, GR Yeaman, JE Stern, MW Fanger and CR Wira
Viable tissue sections and isolated cell cultures from the human fallopian
tube, uterus, cervix, and vaginal mucosa were examined for susceptibility
to infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). We examined
infectivity by using the monocytotropic strain HIV- 1(JR-FL) and several
primary isolates of HIV-1 obtained from infected neonates. HIV-1 infection
was measured by p24 production in short-term culture and by
immunofluorescence detection of HIV-1 Nef and p24 proteins by laser
scanning confocal microscopy. Three-color immunofluorescence was used to
phenotype HIV-infected cells within tissue sections from each site. Our
findings indicate that epithelial, stromal, and dendritic cells and cells
with CD14+ CD4+, CD14-CD4-, and CD4+ CD14- phenotypes from the female
reproductive tract are infectable with HIV-1. Of importance is the finding
that tissues from the upper reproductive tract are susceptible to infection
with HIV-1. Moreover, tissue samples from women in all stages of the
menstrual cycle, including postmenopausal women (inactive), could be
infected with HIV- 1. Female reproductive tract cells required a minimum of
60 min of exposure to HIV-1 in order for infection to occur, in contrast to
peripheral blood lymphocytes, which became infected after being exposed to
HIV-1 for only 1 min. These findings demonstrate that HIV-1 can infect
cells and tissues from different sites within the female reproductive tract
and suggest that multiple cell types, including epithelial cells, may be
targets for the initial infection by HIV-1.
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection of cells and tissues from the upper and lower human female reproductive tract
Department of Veterans Affairs, White River Junction, Vermont 05009, USA. alexandra.howell@dartmouth.EDU
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