Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Virology, May 2000, p. 4860-4867, Vol. 74, No. 10
Unité d'Oncologie
Virale1 and Unité des Virus
Lents,4 CNRS-URA D1930, Unité
d'Immunité Cellulaire Antivirale,3 and
Unité d'Histopathologie,6
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France, and Laboratoire de
Rétrovirologie2 and Centre de
Primatologie,5 Institut Pasteur de la Guyane,
Cayenne, French Guiana
Received 10 August 1999/Accepted 17 February 2000
The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of human
T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) in various organs of serially
sacrificed squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) in order to
localize the reservoir of the virus and to evaluate the relationship
between viral expression and the humoral or cellular immune response
during infection. Six squirrel monkeys infected with HTLV-1 were
sacrificed 6, 12, and 35 days and 3, 6, and 26 months after
inoculation, and 20 organs and tissues were collected from each animal.
PCR and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) were performed with
gag and tax primers. Proviral DNA was detected by PCR in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of monkeys sacrificed 6 days after inoculation and in PBMCs, spleens, and lymph
nodes of monkeys sacrificed 12 and 35 days and 3, 6, and 26 months
after inoculation. Furthermore, tax/rex mRNA was detected by RT-PCR in the PBMCs of two monkeys 8 to 12 days after inoculation and in the spleens and lymph nodes of the monkey sacrificed on day 12. In this animal, scattered HTLV-1 tax/rex mRNA-positive lymphocytes were detected by in situ hybridization in frozen sections of the spleen, around the germinal centers and close to the arterial capillaries. Anti-HTLV-1 cell-mediated immunity was evaluated at
various times after inoculation. Anti-p40Tax and anti-Env
cytolytic T-cell responses were detected 2 months after infection and
remained detectable thereafter. When Tax peptides were used, this
response appeared to be directed against various Tax epitopes. Our
results indicate that squirrel monkeys represent a promising animal
model for studying the early events of HTLV-1 infection and for
evaluating candidate vaccines against HTLV-1.
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Lymphoid Organs as a Major Reservoir for Human T-Cell Leukemia
Virus Type 1 in Experimentally Infected Squirrel Monkeys
(Saimiri sciureus): Provirus Expression, Persistence,
and Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de
Rétrovirologie, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, B.P. 6010, 23, Av.
Pasteur, 97300 Cayenne, French Guiana. Phone: 594 29 68 44. Fax: 594 30 94 16. E-mail: mkazanji{at}pasteur-cayenne.fr.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| J. Bacteriol. | Mol. Cell. Biol. | Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. |
|---|
| Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | ALL ASM JOURNALS |
|---|