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Journal of Virology, November 2003, p. 12299-12309, Vol. 77, No. 22
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.77.22.12299-12309.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Research Center in Infectious Diseases, CHUL Research Center, and Laval University, Quebec, Canada
Received 14 March 2003/ Accepted 6 August 2003
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The mechanism of HIV-1 entry into susceptible cells is a cooperative process requiring numerous events. First, interaction between gp120 and CD4 leads to conformational changes in gp120 which permit the subsequent ligation with the appropriate coreceptor. Second, a rearrangement of the transmembrane gp41 glycoprotein results in exposure of a fusion domain that is necessary for fusion of viral and cellular membranes. Electron microscopy analyses revealed that HIV-1 can also enter via a clathrin-mediated endocytic pathway in CD4+ T lymphocytes following fusion of the virus envelope with the vesicular membrane through a pH-independent mechanism (11, 33, 34). Although both entry processes seem to occur, data indicate that fusion taking place at the cell surface membrane is the most efficient route leading to a productive HIV-1 infection, since endocytosed viruses are directed toward a degradation pathway (25). Viral and/or cellular factors determining the route of virus entry (i.e., fusion between viral and cellular membranes versus vesicular uptake) remain almost undefined.
Despite the fact that productive infection of CD4+ T lymphocytes relies heavily on binding of virion-associated gp120 to cellular CD4, the process of attachment to these cells clearly implicates other cell surface constituents. Moreover, although CD4+ T lymphocytes are considered the major productive cellular reservoir of HIV-1, few studies have investigated the nature of cell surface molecules other than CD4 which might participate in HIV-1 attachment to such target cells. Several lines of evidence convincingly demonstrate that the association between virus-anchored proteins of host origin and their natural ligands on the target cell surface plays a key role in the initial phase of the HIV-1 life cycle (13, 14, 30, 31). Considering that multiple CD4 and coreceptor molecules are needed to permit virus entry (9), the additional virus-cell interactions might trigger membrane destabilization leading to redistribution of CD4 and chemokine coreceptors in the cellular membrane, an event that might facilitate creation of the fusion pore.
The cellular membrane contains a diversity of lipid microdomains asymmetrically distributed in the lipid bilayer. Lipid rafts are considered microdomains enriched in glycosphingolipids, glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, signaling molecules, and cholesterol. These microdomains are involved in numerous biological functions, such as endocytosis, membrane trafficking, cell morphogenesis, and signal transduction (6, 19, 28, 43). Moreover, these structures are also involved in the internalization of many pathogens, such as Mycobacterium bovis (16), Chlamydia trachomatis (29), simian virus 40 (35), and filoviruses (10). Interestingly, it has been reported that lipid raft integrity is essential for HIV-1 entry (20, 23, 24, 36, 48). Since cholesterol is crucial for the maintenance of lipid rafts, it was argued that depletion of this molecule from the plasma membrane would impair the process of HIV-1 infection. Fusion requires colocalization of receptor and coreceptor molecules that have been described as accumulating in microvilli on the surface of the T-cell membrane (44, 45). Studies have demonstrated that the molecules are located differently on the plasma membrane. For example, CD4 has been found in lipid rafts, whereas CXCR4 was located outside these microdomains. Hence, binding of HIV-1 must trigger lateral movement of membrane proteins to bring together CD4 and CXCR4. Accordingly, it was demonstrated that binding of HIV-1 to cell surface CD4 present in raft domains disturbs the plasma membrane and promotes the movement of virus-engaged CD4 molecules near to regions outside lipid rafts that are rich in CXCR4 (20). It was also observed that treatment of peripheral blood lymphocytes with a cholesterol-depleting drug reduced the colocalization of CD4 and CXCR4 with F-actin in microvilli, resulting in an impairment of HIV-1 fusion with the plasma membrane (48). It can thus be proposed that the first steps in the HIV-1 replicative cycle (i.e., attachment and fusion) will be favored by virus-associated host molecules that possess a strong affinity for their physiological counterligands, especially if such interactions mediate signaling events resulting in cytoskeleton-dependent recruitment of coreceptors to the attachment interface.
It is now well accepted that HIV-1 incorporates a vast array of host membrane molecules during its budding process, including intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) (4, 13, 46). The engagement of ICAM-1 with its counterligand, LFA-1, on the cell surface enhances virus infectivity (13). This phenomenon is in agreement with the role played by LFA-1 in the immune response. Indeed, LFA-1 mediates the adhesion and migration of leukocytes during immune and inflammatory processes following its interaction with ICAM-1. In resting cells, integrins exist predominantly in the closed conformation. However, after binding to ICAM-1, the conformation state of LFA-1 changes to an open conformation that further enhances the affinity of LFA-1 for ICAM-1 (40). Clustering of LFA-1 following cell activation is also an important process in increasing ligand binding. Strikingly, LFA-1 acts not only as an adhesion receptor but also as a signaling receptor, since the engagement of this integrin with dimeric ICAM-1 initiates both polymerization and reorganization of F-actin, events that are known to be essential for many biological processes, including membrane fluidity (37). The primary objective of this study was to determine whether additional interactions between host-derived ICAM-1 within mature HIV-1 particles and cell surface LFA-1 affect the route of virus entry into CD4-expressing T lymphoid cells and primary human cells, such as CD4+ T lymphocytes.
(This work was performed by M.R.T. in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Ph.D. degree from the Microbiology-Immunology Program, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University.)
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Antibodies and reagents. The anti-LFA-1 monoclonal antibodies MEM30 and MEM83 were kindly provided by V. Horejsi (Institute of Molecular Genetics, Prague, Czech Republic). Hybridomas that produce 183-H12-5C and 31-90-25, two antibodies recognizing different epitopes of the HIV-1 major viral core protein p24, were supplied by the AIDS Repository Reagent Program and the American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, Va.), respectively. Antibodies obtained from these cells were purified with mAbTrap protein G affinity columns (Amersham Biosciences, Inc., Uppsala, Sweden) according to the manufacturer's instructions. R-phycoerythrin-conjugated goat anti-mouse immunoglobulin G was purchased from Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories (West Grove, Pa.).
Plasmids and production of viral stocks. pNL4-3 is a full-length infectious molecular clone of HIV-1, while pNL4-3 Luc+E-R+ produces Env-deficient reporter HIV-1 particles. These vectors were provided by the AIDS Repository Reagent Program. The pHCMV-G molecular construct codes for the broad-host-range vesicular stomatitis virus envelope glycoprotein G (VSV-G) under the control of the human cytomegalovirus promoter. pCD1.8 is a eukaryotic expression vector containing the entire human ICAM-1 (a generous gift from T. Springer, Center for Blood Research, Boston, Mass.). In some experiments, 293T cells were cotransfected with pNL4-3 Luc+E-R+ and pHCMV-G to produce VSV-G pseudotypes. ß-Lactamase-tagged virions were produced by cotransfection of 293T cells with pNL4-3 and pCMV-BlaM-Vpr, a vector encoding a ß-lactamase- Vpr fusion protein (provided by W. C. Greene). Viruses differing only in the absence or the presence of host-encoded ICAM-1 proteins on their surfaces were produced by the calcium phosphate coprecipitation method in 293T cells as described previously (13). Virus preparations were normalized for virion content by using an in-house enzymatic assay specific for the major viral p24 protein as described previously. In this test, 183-H12-5C and 31-90-25 are used in combination to quantify p24 levels (4).
Virus binding assay. PM1 cells, PBMCs, or purified CD4+ T lymphocytes (1 x 106 or 3 x 106) were resuspended in 1 ml of culture medium containing isogenic HIV-1 particles either devoid of (NL4-3) or bearing (NL4-3/ICAM-1) host-derived ICAM-1 (100 or 300 ng of p24 per 106 cells) and were incubated at 37°C for different times. Next, the cells were extensively washed with ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) to remove unbound viruses, transferred to fresh tubes, and finally lysed in 150 µl of ice-cold lysis buffer (20 mM HEPES [pH 7.4], 150 mM NaCl, 0.5% Triton X-100). The virus content was assessed by monitoring the level of p24.
Virus entry assay. Similar experimental conditions were used to estimate the process of virus entry, except that an additional step with trypsin was included to eliminate uninternalized virus. For virus entry kinetic studies, cells were incubated at 37°C with viruses for 5, 15, and 45 min for PM1 cells and 30, 90, and 180 min for PBMCs and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes. To monitor the role played by LFA-1 in the process of virus entry, cells were pretreated for 1 h at 37°C with an anti-LFA-1 antibody (MEM30) before the addition of virus. Following infection, the cells were washed and trypsinized for 5 min at 37°C to remove uninternalized viruses. Next, the cells were first washed once with RPMI supplemented with 10% FCS and then three times with PBS before lysis. The number of viruses entering cells was estimated by the p24 assay.
Infectivity analysis. PBMCs and PM1 and CD4+ T cells (105) were incubated for 1 h at 37°C with isogenic NL4-3 or NL4-3/ICAM-1 virions (10 ng of p24). In some experiments, the cells were pretreated with an anti-CD4 antibody (i.e., SIM.2 at 10 µg/ml) or SDF-1 (500 ng/ml) for 30 min at 37°C to block either the CD4 primary receptor or the CXCR4 coreceptor before infection. The cells were then trypsinized for 5 min at 37°C to remove uninternalized viruses, washed with RPMI supplemented with 10% FCS, and extensively washed with PBS. Subsequently, the cells were resuspended in 200 µl of complete culture medium supplemented with rhIL-2 for PBMCs and purified CD4+ T cells and transferred into 96-well flat-bottom tissue culture plates. After 48 h of incubation, 150 µl of cell supernatant was harvested and frozen at -20°C until it was assayed by p24 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Cell fractionation assay. PBMCs and PM1 and CD4+ T cells (5 x 106) were resuspended in 2.5 ml of culture medium containing isogenic NL4-3 or NL4-3/ICAM-1 virions (500 ng of p24 per 106 cells) or VSV-G pseudotypes (250 ng of p24) in six-well tissue culture plates. The cells were incubated at 37°C for either 90 min (PM1 cells) or 4 h (PBMCs and CD4+ T lymphocytes). The cells were washed with ice-cold PBS and trypsinized for 5 min at 37°C to eliminate uninternalized viruses. The cells were then washed with RPMI supplemented with 10% FCS, followed by three washes with ice-cold PBS. Cellular membranes were disrupted by resuspending the cells in 1 ml of ice-cold hypotonic buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl [pH 7.5], 10 mM KCl, and 1 mM EDTA) for 1 min before Dounce homogenization (three strokes with 7-ml B pestles). Nuclei, cell debris, and undamaged cells were pelleted by centrifugation (1,800 rpm for 5 min at 4°C in a Sorvall RT600B). Supernatants that contained the cytosol and vesicles (including endosomes) were centrifuged at 12,000 rpm for 90 min at 4°C in a Heraeus centrifuge. The supernatant representing the cytosolic fraction was adjusted to 0.5% Triton X-100, while the pellet (i.e., the vesicular fraction) was resuspended in 1 ml of lysis buffer (20 mM HEPES [pH 7.4], 150 mM NaCl, and 0.5% Triton X-100). The levels of p24 present in both fractions were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Fusion assay. Primary CD4+ T lymphocytes (2 x 106) were pretreated with MEM83 and exposed for 2 h at 37°C to BlaM-Vpr-tagged virions (500 ng of p24). The virus-cell mixture was next extensively washed with PBS before incubation with the CCF2/AM dye (Aurora Bioscience, San Diego, Calif.) as described by the manufacturer. Briefly, 2 µl of CCF2/AM (1 mM) were mixed with 8 µl of a solution made of 0.1% acetic acid containing 100 mg of Pluronic-F127R/ml in 1 ml of CO2-independent medium (Gibco) to constitute the loading solution. The cells were incubated for 1 h at room temperature and then washed two times with CO2-independent medium. The BlaM reaction was maintained for 24 h at room temperature in 200 µl of CO2-independent medium supplemented with 10% FCS and 2.5 mM probenecid (Sigma), an inhibitor of anion transport. Finally, the cells were washed two times with PBS and fixed in 1 ml of a 2% solution of paraformaldehyde. The emission spectra of CCF2/AM (520 nm) and its cleaved product (447 nm) upon excitation at 409 nm were monitored with an 8000C spectrofluorometer (SLM AMINCO; SLM Instruments Inc., Urbana, Ill.).
Confocal microscopy. PM1 cells and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes (3 x 105) were pretreated with the anti-LFA-1 MEM30 antibody for 30 min on ice or left untreated and then incubated for 90 min at 37°C with isogenic NL4-3 or NL4-3/ICAM-1 virions (100 ng of p24). The cells were washed three times with PBS, fixed in 2% paraformaldehyde for 20 min, and permeabilized for 4 min at 4°C with 0.3% Triton X-100 in PBS. The cells were next incubated with pooled human sera from HIV-1-positive patients for 45 min at 37°C to stain the viruses, followed by incubation with goat anti-human immunoglobulin secondary antibody conjugated to Alexa 488 (Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oreg.). After several washes, slides were mounted in 90% glycerol in PBS. Bound and internalized viruses were visualized by confocal laser scanning microscopy (Olympus Fluoview FV300), and the digital images were processed with Adobe Photoshop. All the images were taken under similar experimental conditions (i.e., exposure time), and the processing was also the same for all the images shown in this study.
Statistical analysis. The results presented are expressed as means ± standard deviations of triplicate samples. Statistical significance between groups was first accomplished by analysis of variance. Calculations were made with Microsoft Excel software. P values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant.
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FIG. 1. Insertion of ICAM-1 into mature progeny virus enhances HIV-1 adsorption and entry. PM1 cells and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes (106) were incubated at 37°C for 45 and 90 min, respectively, with similar amounts of the indicated virus stocks (100 ng of p24). The cells were then extensively washed, lysed, and tested for p24. Experiments were performed in triplicate, and standard deviations are indicated. The data shown are representative of two separate experiments.
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FIG. 2. Kinetics of early steps in the HIV-1 life cycle is accelerated upon ICAM-1 incorporation. PM1 cells (A), PBMCs (B), and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes (C) (3 x 106) were incubated at 37°C for the indicated times with similar amounts of isogenic NL4-3 particles either bearing or not bearing ICAM-1 (300 ng of p24). The cells were then extensively washed, lysed, and tested for p24. Experiments were performed in triplicate, and standard deviations are indicated. The data shown are representative of three separate experiments.
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FIG. 3. Confocal microscopy analyses confirm that the most proximal events in the virus replicative cycle are more efficient after insertion of host ICAM-1 into HIV-1. PM1 cells (A) and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes (B) were exposed at 37°C for 45 and 90 min, respectively, to the virus preparations studied. Next, the cells were extensively washed, fixed, and labeled as described in Materials and Methods. (Left) Cells were left untreated (Mock) before being infected with HIV-1. (Right) Cells were pretreated with a blocking anti-LFA-1 antibody (MEM30) before being incubated with HIV-1.
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FIG. 4. Virus-anchored host ICAM-1 confers faster kinetics of HIV-1 internalization. PM1 cells (A), PBMCs (B), and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes (C) (3 x 106) were incubated at 37°C for the indicated times with similar amounts of isogenic NL4-3 particles either bearing or not bearing ICAM-1 (300 ng of p24). The cells were next extensively washed with PBS and treated with trypsin to remove uninternalized virions before lysis to quantify the amount of virus that had entered the cells. Experiments were performed in triplicate, and standard deviations are indicated. The data shown are representative of three separate experiments.
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FIG. 5. ICAM-1- LFA-1 interactions are responsible for more rapid attachment and fusion of ICAM-1-bearing virions. PM1 cells (A), PBMCs (B), and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes (C) were initially pretreated for 60 min at 37°C with the blocking anti-LFA-1 antibody MEM30. The cells were next incubated at 37°C for 30 min with similar amounts of isogenic NL4-3 particles either bearing or not bearing ICAM-1 (100 ng of p24). The cells were extensively washed with PBS and treated with trypsin to remove uninternalized virions before lysis to quantify the amount of virus that had entered the cells. Experiments were performed in triplicate, and standard deviations are indicated. The data shown are representative of three separate experiments. The asterisks indicate a significant difference from cells inoculated with NL4-3/ICAM-1 that were not treated with MEM30 (CTRL) (P < 0.02).
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FIG. 6. Replication of fully competent HIV-1 particles is augmented by ICAM-1 incorporation through interactions between ICAM-1 and LFA-1. PM1 cells (A), PBMCs (B), and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes (C) were left untreated (w/o) or were treated with MEM30, SIM.2, or SDF-1. The cells were then incubated at 37°C for 60 min with similar amounts of isogenic NL4-3 particles either bearing or not bearing ICAM-1 (10 ng of p24). The cells were trypsinized to remove uninternalized virus and were resuspended in complete culture medium. After 48 h, cell supernatants were collected and virus production was estimated by assessing p24 production. Experiments were performed in triplicate, and standard deviations are indicated. The data shown are representative of three separate experiments. The asterisks indicate a significant difference from cells infected with the listed virus preparations and left untreated (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.025).
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48% of total intracellular p24 appeared in the cytosolic fraction, in contrast to 64% when infection is allowed to proceed with isogenic ICAM-1-bearing virions. Cytosolic delivery of NL4-3/ICAM-1 progeny virus was further augmented when PM1 cells were pretreated with an anti-LFA-1 antibody that activates LFA-1 (i.e., MEM83) (data not shown). To eliminate the possibility that a fraction of the observed cytosolic p24 could result from disruption of endosomes while isolating the vesicular fraction, experiments were performed with VSV-G pseudotypes. The validity of our technique is confirmed by the observation that 100% of total intracellular p24 is located in the vesicular fraction once PM1 cells are incubated for 90 min with HIV-1 particles pseudotyped with VSV-G. Measurements of p24 were made in PBMCs and CD4+ T cells following a 4-h exposure because cytosolic p24 levels were not detectable at the earlier time points tested (i.e., 30 and 90 min) (data not shown). Cytosolic p24 levels were higher when PBMCs were exposed to NL4-3/ICAM-1 progeny virus, representing 53% of total intracellular p24 compared to 27% with HIV-1 particles devoid of host ICAM-1 (Fig. 7B). Levels of p24 were also higher in the cytosolic fraction (i.e., 64 versus 36%) when primary human CD4+ T lymphocytes were exposed to ICAM-1-bearing virions (Fig. 7C). Unfortunately, comparative analyses could not be done because p24 levels in both fractions were below the detection limit of the p24 assay even following exposure of purified CD4+ T lymphocytes for 4 h to isogenic viruses devoid of ICAM-1.
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FIG. 7. ICAM-1 incorporation favors cytosolic delivery of internalized virions. (A) PM1 cells (3 x 106) were incubated at 37°C for 90 min with similar amounts of isogenic NL4-3 particles either bearing or not bearing ICAM-1 (300 ng of p24). PM1 cells were also exposed to HIV-1 particles pseudotyped with VSV-G envelope (100 ng of p24). (B and C) In some instances, PBMCs (B) and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes (C) (7 x 106) were incubated at 37°C for 240 min with similar amounts of isogenic NL4-3 particles either bearing or not bearing ICAM-1 (700 ng of p24). After virus exposure, the cells were washed, trypsinized, and resuspended in a swelling buffer. The cells were then disrupted by Dounce homogenization, and the cellular fractions (i.e., cytoslic and vesicular) were separated as described in Materials and Methods. The level of p24 in each fraction was monitored by a p24 assay. The percentages of cytosolic and vesicular p24 are indicated inside each bar. Experiments were performed in triplicate, and the data shown are representative of three separate experiments. The error bars indicate standard deviations.
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TABLE 1. Fusion of BlaM-Vpr-tagged virions into primary CD4+ T cells is enhanced by incorporation of host ICAM-1 into HIV-1
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ICAM-1 has been reported to be inserted in mature HIV-1 particles and to increase virus infectivity severalfold in different experimental cell systems, such as in lymphoid T-cell lines, peripheral blood lymphocytes, and human lymphoid tissue cultured ex vivo (4, 13). The precise mechanism(s) through which the incorporation of this adhesion molecule can augment virus infectivity is still unclear. In this report, we made comparative analyses of isogenic viruses either lacking or bearing ICAM-1 and estimated the attachment and fusion process, as well as intracellular p24 in both vesicular and cytosolic fractions. Since lymphoid cells are natural targets of HIV-1, these studies were performed in an established T-cell line (i.e., PM1) and primary cells (i.e., unseparated PBMCs and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes). We found that the initial attachment step was accentuated by the presence of ICAM-1 in the virion envelope. Virus internalization was also up-regulated when target cells were exposed to ICAM-1-bearing viruses. Our findings suggest that the enhancing effect is optimal at a temperature that approaches physiological temperatures (i.e., 37°C). This observation is not a surprise, since thermodynamic processes, such as inside-out signaling, membrane fluidity, and actin cytoskeleton reorganization, regulate LFA-1 activity. Moreover, internalization of viruses either devoid of or bearing ICAM-1 was more rapid and efficient in PM1 cells than in primary cells. This observation is most likely related to the reported colocalization of CD4 and CXCR4 within the same lipid microdomains in PM1 cells (36), which is in sharp contrast to the situation prevailing in T lymphocytes, where the two cell surface molecules are segregated into separate membrane microdomains (20).
The use of integrins to gain entry into host cells is not restricted to HIV-1 but is a process shared by several viruses. In fact, echovirus (2), adenovirus (50), rotavirus (18), and human parechovirus (47) have all been shown to use integrins to bind to and/or penetrate target cells. Interestingly, all these viruses enter cells by endocytosis. Typically, enveloped viruses exploit three distinct pathways to penetrate target cells: (i) fusion between viral and cellular membranes, a process that uses HIV-1 to gain entry into CD4+ T lymphocytes; (ii) endocytosis via clathrin-coated pits; and (iii) endocytosis through caveolae or rafts. A possible change in HIV-1 entry that would be mediated by virus-associated ICAM-1 was tested by using fusion-incompetent viruses. Productive infection of human CD4+ T cells with ICAM-1-bearing viruses could not be achieved with fusion-deficient virus (data not shown), suggesting that fusion between viral and cellular membranes remains the principal route by which such viruses are internalized in CD4-expressing T lymphocytes. Moreover, both CD4 and CXCR4 are necessary to achieve a productive infection of CD4+ T cells, suggesting that viruses bearing ICAM-1 use the same receptor and coreceptor as viruses lacking this adhesion molecule to penetrate such target cells. Nevertheless, the mechanism through which each virus creates an optimal environment for the formation of the fusion pore might be different and favored when ICAM-1 is located on the virion surface.
It has been shown that lipid rafts are microdomains necessary for HIV-1 entry. In fact, depletion of cholesterol, as well as targeting CD4 to nonraft domains, abolishes HIV-1 infection in T-cell lines (8, 23, 24). While the distribution of CD4 and coreceptors in lipid rafts on purified CD4+ T cells has not yet been investigated, it was demonstrated that CXCR4, in contrast to CD4, is almost excluded from raft microdomains in mitogen- IL-2-treated PBMCs (20). Thus, the plasma membrane should allow a lateral movement of CXCR4 close to CD4 for HIV-1 infection to proceed. In order to investigate whether membrane fluidity and lipid raft integrity are still important for infection with ICAM-1-bearing virions, target cells were treated with MßCD. Penetration of viruses bearing and not bearing ICAM-1 was affected to the same level following MßCD treatment. These data suggest that both viruses require the movement of cellular proteins into membrane microdomains to achieve infection. Experiments are under way to define whether LFA-1 is localized near or inside lipid rafts upon binding of HIV-1 either lacking or bearing host ICAM-1. The possible presence of CD4 and CXCR4 in distinct membrane compartments will also be investigated following the attachment of these progeny viruses.
Subcellular-fractionation assays were performed with the tested virus preparations because HIV-1 internalization leading to productive infection has been shown to result from fusion events at the cell surface and not from endosomal uptake (25). It was proposed that vesicular uptake of HIV-1 does not involve appropriate envelope-receptor interactions and most likely results from nonspecific adhesion of HIV-1 particles to the cell surface. Interestingly, the process of ICAM-1 incorporation affected the distribution of intracellular p24 in the cytosolic and vesicular fractions. Indeed, after exposure to ICAM-1-bearing virions, cytosolic p24 represented a higher proportion of total intracellular p24 than following infection with HIV-1 particles devoid of ICAM-1. The increase in cytosolic p24 distribution, which is linked to a true infection process, is corroborated by our virus infectivity studies. Given that the cytosolic p24 value represents an indicator of HIV-1 entry events leading to successful infectious processes (25), our data suggest that ICAM-1 incorporation encourages viruses toward a route of entry ending in a more productive infection pathway. The use of virions loaded with ß-lactamase- Vpr chimeric proteins confirmed that fusion and delivery into the cytoplasm are both accentuated upon the acquisition of ICAM-1 by HIV-1.
The main difficulty encountered by HIV-1 in achieving successful entry lies in the fact that the process is complex and cooperative, since it involves multiple Env proteins, as well as numerous CD4 glycoproteins and chemokine coreceptors that have to act in a concerted manner. Another obstacle that HIV-1 has to surmount in T lymphocytes is the fact that CD4 and CXCR4 are segregated into distinct cell surface microdomains (i.e., CD4 in lipid rafts and CXCR4 in nonraft regions). Therefore, the virus must destabilize the plasma membrane microenvironment to allow the formation of the fusion pore (20). Several hypotheses based on specific properties of the integrin can explain the higher proportion of the viral p24 input that reaches the cytosol once host ICAM-1 is found embedded in mature HIV-1. Since LFA-1- ICAM-1 interactions contribute to T-lymphocyte tethering and rolling in shear flow (21), it can be proposed that virus-embedded ICAM-1 promotes the rolling of virions onto the surfaces of target cells until a sufficient number of gp120-CD4 interactions are initiated (Fig. 8A). Alternatively, ligation of virus-anchored host ICAM-1 and cell surface LFA-1 can trigger LFA-1 activation, an event leading to mobilization of LFA-1 to the lipid raft and thus closer to CD4 (Fig. 8B). It can also be hypothesized that signal transduction events initiated by the association between LFA-1 and its ligand (i.e., ICAM-1) can mediate a remodeling of the cytoskeleton, resulting in destabilization of the plasma membrane and facilitation of secondary interactions with CXCR4 (Fig. 8C). This idea is supported by a recent study showing that the F-actin cytoskeleton is remodeled by ICAM-1-mediated signaling through LFA-1 (37). Finally, LFA-1 has a propensity to form complexes with other proteins and to allow their movement into lipid rafts upon cell activation (22). It is thus conceivable that LFA-1, which is excluded from lipid rafts in resting T cells (22), might be located near CXCR4 and that this complex could migrate to CD4-containing membrane rafts following the binding of ICAM-1-bearing HIV-1 particles to the cell surface (Fig. 8D). It should be emphasized that a possible effect on the lateral movement of cell surface molecules into the plasma membrane is a common denominator to explain how ICAM-1 incorporation can promote HIV-1 fusion and authentic cell infection. Studies are in progress to delineate the precise mechanism(s) of action of virus-anchored host ICAM-1 on the early events in HIV-1 biology in CD4+ T lymphocytes.
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FIG. 8. Proposed hypothetical models to explain how insertion of host ICAM-1 within HIV-1 results in an enhancement of virus attachment-fusion-internalization and cytosolic delivery. (A) Rolling of virus entity onto the cell surface due to the association between ICAM-1 and LFA-1 allows achievement of a sufficient number of interactions between gp120 and CD4. (B) Binding of virus-associated ICAM-1 to cell surface LFA-1 triggers activation of LFA-1, leading ultimately to a displacement of LFA-1 and thus of associated viruses toward lipid rafts that contain CD4. (C) Attachment of ICAM-1-bearing viruses to the surfaces of LFA-1-expressing cells can result in intracellular signal transduction events that facilitate interactions with the appropriate chemokine coreceptor. (D) A complex made of LFA-1 and CXCR4 can move into raft microdomains following binding of ICAM-1-bearing virions, leading to colocalization with CD4.
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This work was financially supported by an operating grant to M. J. Tremblay from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) HIV/AIDS Research Program (grant no. HOP-14438). M.R.T. holds a CIHR Doctoral Award, and M.J.T. is the recipient of the Canada Research Chair in Human Immuno-Retrovirology (tier 1 level).
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2ß1 and
4ß1 can mediate SA11 rotavirus attachment and entry into cells. J. Virol. 74:228-236.
vß3 and
vß1 as receptors. J. Virol. 74:5856-5862.
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