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Journal of Virology, June 1999, p. 4806-4812, Vol. 73, No. 6
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Quantitative Analysis of Latent Human
Cytomegalovirus
Barry
Slobedman and
Edward S.
Mocarski*
Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
94305-5124
Received 17 December 1998/Accepted 2 March 1999
 |
ABSTRACT |
Cytomegalovirus latency depends on an interaction with
hematopoietic cells in bone marrow and peripheral blood. The
distribution of viral DNA was investigated by PCR-driven in situ
hybridization (PCR-ISH), and the number of viral genomes per cell was
estimated by quantitative competitive PCR during both experimental and
natural latent infection. During experimental latent infection of
cultured granulocyte-macrophage progenitors, the viral genome was
detected in >90% of cells at a copy number of 1 to 8 viral genomes
per cell. During natural infection, viral genomes were detected in 0.004 to 0.01% of mononuclear cells from granulocyte
colony-stimulating factor-mobilized peripheral blood or bone marrow
from seropositive donors, at a copy number of 2 to 13 genomes per
infected cell. When evaluated by reverse transcription-PCR-ISH, only a
small proportion of experimentally infected cells (approximately 2%) had detectable latent transcripts. This investigation identifies the
small percentage of bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells that become
latently infected during natural infection and suggests that latency
may proceed in some cells that fail to encode currently identified
latent transcripts.
 |
INTRODUCTION |
Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a
medically important betaherpesvirus carried by a majority of
individuals, where it is a leading cause of opportunistic and
congenital disease (4). Like other herpesviruses, primary
infection by CMV leads to a lifelong latency that is characterized by
maintenance of the viral genome without active infectious virus
production. Periodically throughout life, the virus reactivates from
latency and is shed in bodily secretions including saliva, urine, and
breast milk. Although primary and reactivated infection remain largely
asymptomatic in immunocompetent individuals, primary infection by CMV
is a significant cause of serious congenital disease leading to
neurological damage in children. Reactivated infection is a major cause
of disease in immunocompromised individuals including AIDS patients and
allograft transplant recipients (4). The ability of this
virus to reactivate from a latent state contributes significantly to
its success as a human pathogen, yet the tissue distribution of latent
CMV remains poorly understood (24).
Peripheral blood (PB)- and bone marrow (BM)-derived monocytes and
granulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells (GM-Ps) may be important sites
of CMV latency. The viral genome is maintained in cultured primary
GM-Ps during experimental latent infection (9, 11-13) and
is detected in naturally infected PB- and BM-derived mononuclear cells
from healthy seropositive donors (2, 11, 13, 21, 26,
33-35). In addition, reactivation of virus has been induced in
experimentally infected GM-Ps by cocultivation with permissive cells or
by treatment with proinflammatory cytokines (9, 11) as well
as in naturally infected PB mononuclear cells (PBMCs) following
allogeneic stimulation (30). Previous studies have identified CMV latency-associated transcripts (CLTs) in experimentally and naturally infected hematopoietic progenitor cells (9,
11-13). Two classes of CLTs (denoted sense and antisense) have
been mapped to the ie1/ie2 (UL122/UL123) region of the viral
genome, a region that encodes the major
(immediate-early) gene
products. Antibodies to latent proteins encoded by these CLTs have been
detected in serum from healthy seropositive donors (13).
To date, quantitation of latent infection during natural infection has
proved complicated due primarily to the need to apply PCR methods to
detect latent viral DNA and CLTs. Methods that rely on in situ
hybridization (ISH) to enumerate RNA- or DNA-positive cells,
particularly when combined with PCR amplification to increase the
sensitivity for low copy numbers, provide the most accurate picture of
the distribution of latent virus nucleic acids in host cells and
tissues (8). In this study, we sought to characterize CMV
latency by applying PCR-driven ISH (PCR-ISH) and quantitative competitive PCR (QC-PCR) to experimentally infected GM-Ps and naturally
infected mononuclear cells to estimate the percentage of these cells
that harbor viral genomes as well as the average number of genomes
carried by a latently infected cell. We also used reverse
transcription-PCR-ISH (RT-PCR-ISH) to determine the percentage of CMV
genome-positive cells with detectable sense CLTs.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Cells and virus culture.
Human fetal liver hematopoietic
cells were cultured as GM-Ps as described previously (11).
On day 4 of cell culture, nonadherent cells were infected with RC256, a
lacZ-tagged derivative of human CMV Towne (32),
at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 3. Nonadherent cells were
maintained by collection and transfer to new flasks three times per
week to remove stromal cells and differentiated, adherent
myelomonocytic cells. Human foreskin fibroblasts were used for virus
propagation and plaque assay.
Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mobilized PB or BM cells
were collected from patients at Stanford Medical Center, layered over
15 ml of Lymphoprep (GIBCO/BRL), and centrifuged for 15 min at
1,000 × g. Cells were washed once in HEPES-buffered saline solution, treated with 155 mM NH4Cl-10 mM
KHCO3 (pH 7.0) for 5 min to lyse any remaining
erythrocytes, and washed twice with HEPES-buffered saline solution
before either PCR-ISH or QC-PCR.
PCR-ISH and DNA blot hybridization.
PCR-ISH was performed by
a modification of the method described by Haase et al. (8).
Cells were harvested and fixed with freshly prepared 4%
paraformaldehyde in PBS for 30 min at room temperature, washed three
times in PBS, and suspended in a PCR mixture consisting of 200 µM
each dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP, 0.01% gelatin, oligonucleotide
primers at 1 pmol/µl each, 1.5 mM MgCl2, and 1× PCR
buffer (Boehringer Mannheim). PCR amplification was carried out with
the ie1/ie2 primers IEP3A and IEP3B (11) in a
Perkin-Elmer/Cetus thermocycler for 30 cycles (94°C for 2 min, 58°C
for 2 min, and 72°C for 5 min) after an initial denaturation at
94°C for 8 min. Following PCR amplification, the cells were washed
and suspended in PBS and collected onto glutaraldehyde-activated 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane-coated glass microscope slides by cytocentrifugation (19). The cells were treated with 4%
paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 30 min, washed
twice in PBS, and then treated with 1% Triton X-100 in PBS for 2 min.
They were washed three times in PBS, treated with 0.25% acetic
anhydride-0.1 M triethanolamine (pH 8.0) for 10 min, washed three
times in PBS, and dehydrated through graded (50, 70, and 100%)
ethanol. In situ detection of amplified products was performed with a
nonisotopic digoxigenin (DIG)-labelled riboprobe generated from a
genomic clone, pON2810, which consists of a 2.2-kb AlwNI
restriction fragment from the ie1/ie2 region of human CMV
AD169 cloned into the SmaI site of pBluescript KS (+/
). A
20-µl volume of hybridization solution (50% deionized formamide, 1×
SSC [0.15 M NaCl, 0.015 M sodium citrate], 100 mM Tris-HCl [pH
7.6], 10 mM NaH2PO4, 10 mM
Na2HPO4, 0.02% Ficoll, 0.02%
polyvinylpyrrolidone, 500 µg of sheared denatured salmon sperm DNA
per ml, 500 µg of yeast tRNA per ml, 20 mM dithiothreitol, 1 U of
RNase inhibitor per µl, 30 pg of probe) was added to each cell spot,
and the slides were each covered with a siliconized coverslip and
sealed with rubber cement. The slides were then placed onto a heating
block for 8 min at 98°C to denature target DNA, cooled rapidly on ice
for 2 min, and incubated for 16 h at 58°C. Unbound probe was
removed by washing the slides sequentially in 2× SSC-10 mM Tris-HCl
(pH 7.5) for 30 min at room temperature, 0.1× SSC-10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5) for 30 min at room temperature, and 0.1× SSC-10 mM Tris-HCl (pH
7.5)-30% deionized formamide for 30 min at 58°C. Finally, the
slides were washed at room temperature in 0.1× SSC-10 mM Tris-HCl (pH
7.5) for 15 min. Bound probe was detected with anti-DIG antibody coupled to alkaline phosphatase and developed with nitroblue
tetrazolium chloride plus 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl phosphate as
specified by the manufacturer (Boehringer Mannheim). In DNA blot
experiments, DNA was transferred from 3% agarose gels to
nitrocellulose membranes by the method of Southern (31) and
hybridized to a random-primed 32P-labelled probe generated
from pON2810. Hybridization, washing of filters, and detection of bound
probe were carried out as previously described (28), with
the addition of 15% deionized formamide to the hybridization solution.
QC-PCR.
Cells were suspended in lysis buffer at either
1.3 × 104 or 5.4 × 104 cells per 10 µl and incubated as described previously (11). Each 10-µl aliquot
of cell lysate was analyzed in the presence of between 3 and 3 × 105 copies of a denatured CMV ie1/ie2 cDNA
competitor pON2347 (11). PCR amplification for either 30 or
40 cycles (94°C for 1 min, 62°C for 1 min, and 72°C for 2 min)
was performed with primers IEP3C and IEP4BII (11). After
amplification, 20% of each reaction mixture was analyzed by
electrophoresis in 3% agarose gels. In some experiments, PCR products
were also analyzed by DNA blot hybridization as described above. The
relative quantities of PCR products derived from genomic and competitor
templates were determined by density integration with a Stratagene
Eagle Eye II/Eagle Sight system or Molecular Dynamics Storm 860 PhosphorImager. The ability of primers IEP3C and IPE4BII to amplify
equally both viral genomic and competitor sequences was confirmed by
performing a PCR on a sample containing a mixture of 105
copies of virion DNA and 105 copies of pON2347 under the
reaction conditions described above. PCR products resolved by agarose
gel electrophoresis and density integration demonstrated that both
templates were amplified equally (data not shown).
RT-PCR-ISH.
Cells were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS
for 30 min at room temperature, washed three times in PBS, and
resuspended in DNase digestion mixture (6 mM MgCl2, 40 mM
Tris-HCl [pH 7.5], 5 U of DNase per µl, 0.15 U of RNase inhibitor
per µl, 1 mM dithiothreitol) (GIBCO/BRL) for 16 h at 37°C. The
cells were washed three times in PBS and suspended in RT mixture (0.15 U of RNase inhibitor per µl, 10 mM DTT, 1 mM each dATP, dCTP, dGTP,
and dTTP, 1× RT buffer, 1.25 pmol of primer IEP2D per µl, 10 U of
SuperScript II per µl) (GIBCO/BRL) for 4 h at 42°C. They were
then washed three times in PBS and finally suspended in PCR mixture
containing primers IEP2D and IEP1G (12). PCR amplification
was done as described previously, and amplified products were detected
by ISH with a DIG-labelled riboprobe derived from pON2501, which contains a 1.1-kb EcoRV-SpeI cDNA fragment from
the ie1/ie2 region of CMV AD169 cloned into the
ClaI-SpeI site of pBluescript KS (+/
).
 |
RESULTS |
Quantitation of viral DNA in CMV-infected GM-P cultures.
Viral
DNA and limited transcription from the viral genome have been detected
in experimentally infected GM-Ps maintained in culture in the absence
of any detectable productive infection, in a pattern consistent with
viral latency (9, 11-13). To better understand the
distribution of viral DNA in these cells, we used PCR-ISH to
investigate the percentage of cells harboring viral genomes. Human
fetal liver-derived GM-Ps grown in suspension under conditions
previously described (11) were exposed to a
lacZ-tagged human CMV RC256 at a MOI of 3. At 2 to 3 weeks
after infection, the nonadherent cell population from four separate
suspension cultures was collected, evaluated for evidence of productive
infection, and subjected to PCR-ISH to reveal the distribution of viral
DNA. Cells from each culture were assayed for
-galactosidase
expression as a sensitive indicator of viral productive-phase gene
expression (32). Cultures evaluated for
-galactosidase or
directly for infectious virus exhibited no evidence of productive
infection (data not shown), consistent with previous results
(11). Mononuclear cells were fixed as described in Materials
and Methods, subjected to 30 cycles of PCR amplification with CMV
primers IEP3A and IEP3B, collected on glass slides by
cytocentrifugation, and subjected to nonisotopic ISH with a
DIG-labelled riboprobe homologous to the amplified product (Fig.
1A to D). Viral DNA was detected in >90% of cells in all infected samples in the presence of
Taq DNA polymerase and primers (Fig.
2) but not in mock-infected samples or in
virus-infected samples in which either Taq DNA polymerase or
primers were omitted (Fig. 2 and data not shown). These results demonstrated that over 90% of cells harbored viral DNA in the absence
of any concurrent productive infection, consistent with previous
evidence suggesting that such cultures were latently infected (9,
11-13).

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FIG. 1.
(A to D) Photomicrographs showing detection of CMV
DNA in experimentally infected GM-P culture by PCR-ISH. Cells from
RC256-infected (A to C) or mock-infected (D) cultures were subjected to
PCR-ISH, except that Taq DNA polymerase was omitted from the
experiment in panel C. The solid arrow indicates a CMV DNA-positive
cell, and the open arrow indicates a CMV DNA-negative cell.
Magnification, ×1,280 (A) and ×3,200 (B to D). (E) DNA blot
hybridization of total DNA extracted from CMV-infected (Inf, complete)
or mock-infected (Mock, complete) GM-Ps after PCR amplification with
IEP3A and IEP3B or with the omission of Taq DNA polymerase
(Inf, Taq and Mock, Taq). The filter was probed with a
32P-labelled probe derived from pON2810, washed, and
exposed to X-ray film for 2 h. The predicted CMV-specific PCR
product of 167 bp is indicated.
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FIG. 2.
PCR-ISH determination of the percentage of CMV
DNA-positive cells from four separate GM-P cultures 2 to 3 weeks after
infection with RC256 at a MOI of 3. Virus-infected (Inf) and
mock-infected (Mock) cultures were analyzed in the presence of the full
complement of reagents for CMV DNA detection (complete) or with the
omission of Taq DNA polymerase ( Taq). Symbols: , experiment 1;
, experiment 2; ,
experiment 3; , experiment 4.
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Several reports (
8,
10,
17) have suggested that diffusion of
products and nonspecific amplification may lead to false-positive
results in PCR-ISH. To determine whether PCR products diffused
between
cells under the conditions used here, we mixed mock-infected
cells with
infected GM-Ps at a ratio of 10:1 prior to performing
PCR-ISH. This
resulted in a concomitant reduction in the numbers
of CMV DNA-positive
cells and indicated that diffusion of PCR
products did not contribute
signal in our analysis. The specificity
of the PCR products made during
PCR-ISH was also investigated.
DNA extracted after the PCR
amplification was separated by agarose
gel electrophoresis and
subjected to DNA blot hybridization with
a random-primed
32P-labelled probe generated from the same construct
(pON2810) used
to generate the ISH probe (Fig.
1E). The samples
prepared from
infected GM-Ps contained an appropriately sized amplified
species
which was absent from either mock-infected samples or
virus-infected
samples in which
Taq DNA polymerase was
omitted from the PCR mixture.
These data demonstrated that the PCR
amplification and subsequent
ISH were detecting a specific 167-bp
region of the CMV genome
in fixed mononuclear
cells.
We used QC-PCR to determine the number of viral genome copies per
infected GM-P in a culture where 94% of cells were CMV DNA
positive by
PCR-ISH. Cell lysates of 1.3 × 10
4 GM-Ps were
mixed with 3 × 10
3 to 3 × 10
5
copies of a competitive template, the
ie1/ie2 cDNA
plasmid clone
pON2347, and subjected to 30 rounds of PCR amplification
with
primers IEP3C and IEP4BII as previously described (
11).
Cells
(1.3 × 10
4) from a mock-infected GM-P culture
and a sample lacking cell
or competitor DNAs were included as controls.
After amplification,
20% of each reaction mixture was separated on a
3% agarose gel
and products were visualized by ethidium bromide
staining. Both
the 387-bp genomic and 217-bp competitor PCR products
were readily
detectable (Fig.
3). Based
on the relative amounts of the genomic
and competitor PCR products,
between 3 × 10
4 and 1 × 10
5 CMV
genomes were present in 1.3 × 10
4 cells, representing
two to eight genomes per cell. In two other
infected GM-P cultures, a
more precise estimation of one and four
viral genomes per CMV
DNA-positive cell was made. Taken together
with previous results
showing that viral DNA was contained in
the nucleus of infected GM-Ps
(
11), the viral genome appears
to be carried at a relatively
low copy number during the establishment
and maintenance of latency.

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FIG. 3.
CMV DNA copy number determination by QC-PCR. Lysates of
1.3 × 104 cells from an RC256-infected GM-P culture
(MOI of 3, day 17 postinfection) were each analyzed in the presence of
3 × 103 to 3 × 105 copies of
competitive template, a CMV ie1/ie2 cDNA plasmid pON2347.
The copy numbers are indicated above the lanes. The positions of the
387-bp product from CMV genomic DNA and the 217-bp product from the
cDNA competitive template are indicated by arrows. Cells from a
mock-infected GM-P culture (Mock) or a sample without DNA (no DNA) were
included as negative controls. The marker was a 100-bp ladder
(Boehringer-Mannheim).
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Enumeration of experimentally infected cells expressing sense
CLTs.
Viral transcripts expressed during experimental latent
infection of GM-Ps and in BM mononuclear cells from healthy
seropositive donors have been detected by solution RT-PCR analysis
(9, 12, 13). We used RT-PCR-ISH to determine the number of
cells expressing sense CLTs in a population of experimentally infected
GM-Ps. Cultures were exposed to CMV RC256 at a MOI of 3, and 2 to 3 weeks after infection, nonadherent cells from three separate cultures
were collected, treated with DNase, and subjected to RT with primer IEP2D. A total of 30 cycles of PCR amplification were performed with
primers IEP2D and IEP1G. IEP1G lies upstream of the ie1/ie2 productive transcript start site within a region downstream of the
latent start site such that amplification would be expected to occur
from a latent but not a productive cDNA template. Amplified products
were detected by ISH with a DIG-labelled riboprobe derived from pON2501
(Fig. 4). A small proportion of cells
(1.8, 2.0, and 3.6%) from three independent cultures were positive for
viral RNA. A signal was not detected in mock-infected cells, in
virus-infected cells when either reverse transcriptase or
Taq DNA polymerase was omitted (Fig. 4E), or when cells were
pretreated with RNase (data not shown). These cultures were all
negative for infectious virus and productive gene expression (data not
shown), although more than 90% of cells were positive for viral DNA by
PCR-ISH (Fig. 2). These data show that only a small proportion of viral genome-positive GM-Ps express detectable sense CLTs at a given time.

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FIG. 4.
(A to D) Photomicrographs showing detection of sense
CLTs by RT-PCR-ISH in experimentally infected GM-P culture. Infected
cells were subjected to RT-PCR-ISH (A and B), with controls omitting
reverse transcriptase (C) or Taq DNA polymerase (D). Sense
CLT-positive cells are arrowed. Magnification, ×1,280 (A) and ×3,200
(B to D). (E) RT-PCR-ISH determination of the percentage of sense
CLT-positive cells from three separate GM-P cultures 2 to 3 weeks after
infection with RC256 at a MOI of 3. Virus-infected (Inf) or
mock-infected (Mock) cells were analyzed in the presence of the full
complement of reagents for sense CLT detection (complete) or with the
omission of either reverse transcriptase ( RTase) or Taq
DNA polymerase ( Taq). , experiment 1; , experiment 2; ,
experiment 3.
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Quantitation of CMV genomes in naturally infected cells.
To
assess the distribution of CMV DNA in cells from individuals undergoing
natural latent infection, G-CSF-mobilized PB or BM samples were
collected from 12 different autograft or allograft donors at the
Stanford University Hospital Bone Marrow Transplantation Program.
Autograft donors suffered from breast cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, or multiple myeloma, none of which are CMV associated, and allograft donors were all clinically healthy adults. Mononuclear cells were isolated without regard for their CMV serological status and
subjected to PCR-ISH analysis. We were able to detect CMV DNA in a
small percentage (0.004 to 0.01%) of mononuclear cells (Fig.
5A and C).Thus, viral DNA was found to be
distributed in fewer than 1 in 104 mononuclear cells. In
addition, there was no difference in the frequency of DNA-positive
cells between the autograft and allograft donors examined, suggesting
that latency in these two types of donors was not quantitatively
different.

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FIG. 5.
(A) Photomicrograph showing detection of CMV DNA in
naturally infected mononuclear cells by PCR-ISH. A CMV DNA-positive
cell is indicated by an arrow. Magnification, ×3,200. (B) CMV DNA copy
number determination by QC-PCR in G-CSF-mobilized PB cells from a
CMV-seropositive donor. Lysates of 5.4 × 104 cells
were each analyzed in the presence of 3, 10, or 30 copies of
competitive template, a CMV ie1/ie2 cDNA plasmid, pON2347.
The positions of the 387-bp product from CMV genomic DNA and the 217-bp
product from the cDNA competitive template are indicated by arrowheads.
A contamination control containing no DNA was included (lane c). (C)
PCR-ISH determination of the percentage of CMV DNA-positive mononuclear
cells from G-CSF-mobilized PB and BM autograft and allograft donors (12 donors were used altogether; see symbols below). Cells were analyzed in
the presence of the full complement of reagents for CMV DNA detection
(complete) or with the omission of Taq DNA polymerase
( Taq). The number of CMV genomes per CMV DNA-positive cell was
determined by a combination of PCR-ISH and QC-PCR data and is shown as
numbers above the bars in the graph. Symbols: , mobilized PB 1, autograft; ,
mobilized PB 2, autograft;
, mobilized PB 3, autograft; ,
mobilized PB 4, autograft; , mobilized PB 5, autograft; ,
mobilized PB 6, autograft;
, bone marrow 1, autograft; ,
mobilized PB 7, allograft; , mobilized PB 8, autograft;
, mobilized PB 9, autograft; , mobilized PB 10, autograft;
, mobilized PB 11, allograft.
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QC-PCR optimized to detect low genome copy numbers (3, 10, or 30 copies) was used to determine the viral genome copy number
in lysates
of 5.4 × 10
4 mononuclear cells from latently infected
individuals. PCR amplification
was performed for 40 cycles in these
experiments, and a PCR contamination
control lacking sample or
competitor DNA was included in parallel.
The products were resolved by
electrophoresis on a 3% agarose
gel, and amplified DNA was identified
by DNA blot hybridization
with
32P-labelled probe specific
for amplified sequences. Both the 387-bp
genomic and 217-bp competitor
PCR products were detected (Fig.
5B) at a level indicating
approximately 10 viral genomes per 5.4
× 10
4 cells.
In this particular sample, 0.009% of the cells were viral
genome
positive, as determined by PCR-ISH (i.e., approximately
1 in
10
4 mononuclear cells was viral genome positive). To
determine the
number of viral genomes per CMV-positive cell in this
sample,
we divided the number of genome copies by the number of
genome-positive
cells and estimated that there were approximately two
viral genomes
per CMV-positive cell. An additional three samples were
similarly
analyzed, and the range of copy number estimates was 6, 9, and
13 copies per CMV DNA-positive cell (Fig.
5C). These results
suggest
that mononuclear cells from latently infected individuals
contain
relatively few viral genomes. We concluded that PCR-ISH and
QC-PCR
could be applied to naturally infected samples to determine both
the number of CMV DNA-positive cells and the number of viral genomes
harbored within those
cells.
 |
DISCUSSION |
This study shows that the latent human CMV genome is distributed
at low copy numbers in a small proportion of mononuclear cells from
latently infected individuals. PCR-ISH revealed viral genome-positive
cells at a frequency of 0.004 to 0.01%. This small population of
CMV-positive cells was present without significant variation in eight
naturally infected individuals, suggesting remarkable consistency among
the donors in whom the CMV genome was detected. Genome-positive cells
were detected in mononuclear populations from 7 of 10 seropositive and
1 of 2 seronegative donors, with a detection limit of 1 positive cell
in 3.3 × 104 total cells. The inability to detect
genome-positive cells in all 10 seropositive donors probably reflects a
frequency of latently infected cells in some of these donors which was
below our limit of detection. The presence of genome-positive cells in
1 of 2 seronegative donors was not unexpected, because it has
previously been reported that seronegative individuals are frequently
CMV DNA positive in PCR (15, 29, 30). Although we detected
viral genome-positive cells by PCR-ISH, we were unable to detect viral DNA in either experimentally infected GM-Ps or naturally infected mononuclear cells by conventional nonisotopic ISH (data not shown), consistent with a low abundance of viral genomes in these cells. By
combining the detection of genome-positive cells by PCR-ISH and
quantitation of viral genomes by QC-PCR, we were able to quantify the
DNA load in latently infected cells during both experimental and
natural infections. Our finding of viral genome copy numbers on the
order of 1 to 13 genomes per CMV DNA-positive cell in both settings
provides a validation of the experimental system and important new
information on natural latent infection, since determination of the
number of latently infected cells and the viral genome burden per
infected cell have not been previously reported. Other studies have
been limited to attempts at estimating the number of viral genomes in
total cell or tissue samples (14, 25). Although we have not
yet assessed whether naturally infected CMV genome-positive cells are
resting or proliferating, the low copy number of viral genomes per cell
found in mononuclear cells suggests that the virus is unlikely to be
replicating productively in these cells and, as such, is unlikely to
contribute to the establishment or maintenance phases of CMV latent infection.
The methods used here have relied upon PCR amplification of relatively
small viral DNA fragments as an indicator of the presence of an intact
genome. The recent demonstration by Bolovan et al. (3) that
the latent CMV genome from naturally infected individuals has physical
properties of a unit-length circle provides strong evidence that an
intact CMV genome is carried by these cells. Although the establishment
of latency and conformation of the viral genome both merit further
investigation, it appears that a circular genome configuration of
latent DNA is a conserved property of other herpesviruses (1, 5,
7). We have defined how CMV DNA is carried within PBMCs during
latency. Similar approaches can now be applied to more accurately
assess the distribution of CMV nucleic acids in transplant donors and
recipients, a situation where the latent load and distribution may
influence outcome. These are methods that can also be applied to
validate data collected from experimental latency models of
herpesviruses such as herpes simplex virus and Epstein-Barr virus.
CMV is notorious for reactivating under a wide range of circumstances
that involve blood transfusion and organ transplantation (4). Measures of latency that have been applied to
herpesviruses include determining the percentage of cells from
naturally latent individuals that can be grown out or the percentage
that can be shown to reactivate to productive replication during
culture. The former method has long played a central role in our
understanding of EBV latency, because latently infected B cells acquire
the ability to outgrow normal B cells in culture (16) and
the frequency of cells that grow out in culture is related to the
numbers of PBMCs carrying latent DNA (23). CMV does not
cause outgrowth of cells but can be reactivated. Soderberg-Naucler et
al. (30) undertook an assessment of reactivation from
naturally infected individuals, a procedure that had succeeded in the
hands of only one other group over a 30-year period (6). In
the recent study, CMV was estimated to reactivate from a small
percentage of PBMCs following allogeneic stimulation, a range that is
in agreement with the range of viral DNA-positive cells we detected by
PCR-ISH in our study. Although reactivation from experimental human CMV latent infection of GM-Ps has been routinely achieved (9,
11), we have not yet successfully reactivated CMV from naturally
infected samples to allow a more direct comparison of these two
measures of viral latency.
Solution PCR of CMV nucleic acids has contributed to our understanding
of latency in naturally infected individuals and has directed our
attention to cells within the hematopoietic lineage, ranging from early
BM-derived CD34+ progenitors (21) to
lineage-committed CD33+ GM-dendritic cell progenitors
(9, 11) and mature CD14+ PB cells (30,
34). CLTs were first identified in experimentally infected GM-Ps
and have been detected in distinct subpopulations of mononuclear
hematopoietic progenitor cells by solution RT-PCR (9,
11-13). Expression of latent transcripts was previously found to
correlate with the presence of the myeloid lineage cell surface marker
CD33, yet more primitive progenitors (CD34+
CD33
) and mature cells (CD15+
CD33
, CD14+ CD33
) were negative
(9). In the present study, we were surprised to find that
only a small percentage (2%) of CMV DNA-positive GM-Ps had detectable
sense CLTs when subjected to RT-PCR-ISH analysis, because a majority of
these cells are CD33+ (9, 11). The detection of
CLTs in a minority of DNA-positive cells raises several possibilities:
(i) sense CLTs may be expressed only in a subset of latently infected
cells, (ii) sense CLT expression may correspond to some stage of
latency, and (iii) CMV DNA-positive cells may include latently as well
as abortively infected cells. Thus far, RT-PCR-ISH has failed to detect
sense CLTs in total mononuclear cells from naturally infected
individuals although sense CLTs have been detected at a frequency
estimated to be less than 0.003% in pools of fluorescence-activated
cell sorter-classified CD33+ cells by solution RT-PCR
(9). Further evaluation of fluorescence-activated cell
sorter-classified cell populations by RT-PCR-ISH and PCR-ISH will
better define the relationship between RNA positive and genome-positive cells during natural latency. Although we may have underestimated the
percentage of sense CLT-expressing cells due to limitations in the
sensitivity of the RT-PCR-ISH assay, we were consistently able to apply
this method to detect a majority of ie1/ie2
transcript-positive controls (data not shown). Our finding of a
dissociation between the presence of viral genomes and latent gene
expression has been reported for other herpesviruses (20, 22,
27), and we currently favor the possibility that the cell type,
cell activation state, or stage of latency may dictate whether sense
CLTs are expressed. Thus, the percentage of cells in GM-P cultures
expressing sense CLTs may reflect differentiation or cell cycle state,
a situation that is most analogous to Epstein-Barr virus, where not all
latent gene products are expressed all the time (22). The
fact that sense CLT expression seems to be associated with the myeloid
progenitor cell surface marker CD33 (9) already suggested
that cell state might have a significant effect on expression. We
expect that direct evaluation of CMV mutants that are defective in
latent gene expression will reveal any role these products play in
latency, including establishment, maintenance, and reactivation phases.
Our work demonstrates that the CMV genome can be detected and
quantitated directly in naturally infected populations. The in situ
detection and quantification methods used here will enable a more
detailed analysis of the distribution of latent viral genomes and
transcripts in different cell populations. Although the serologic status and state of immunosuppression of the donor and recipient have
been shown to contribute to the risk of CMV-associated disease during
the posttransplantation period (4), the number of viral genomes transferred in donor material might also be an important risk
factor in blood cells transferred with organ transplants (14,
18). The assessment of patterns of CMV latency in donor cells
with respect to genome distribution, number, and transcriptional activity may provide a rational basis for a more detailed assessment of
risk factors associated with the transmission and reactivation of CMV
in allograft recipients.
 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
We thank members of the Stanford University Hospital Bone Marrow
Transplantation Program for donor samples, Kirsten Lofgren for
assistance with collection of liver samples, and Allison Abendroth for
helpful discussions.
This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Health
(RO1 AI33852 and PO1 CA49605). For a portion of this work, B.S. was
supported by a research fellowship from the American Heart Association,
Western States Affiliate.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5124. Phone: (650) 723-6435. Fax: (650) 723-1606. E-mail: mocarski{at}stanford.edu.
 |
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