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Syncytium‐Inducing Capacity of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV): Analysis by the Use of Cloned Viruses
Author(s) -
ElFarrash Mohamed A.,
Harada Shinji
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1989.tb02005.x
Subject(s) - syncytium , biology , infectivity , virology , cell fusion , virus , glycoprotein , viral envelope , viral entry , v3 loop , cell culture , microbiology and biotechnology , viral replication , antibody , immunology , genetics , epitope
The marked cytopathic effects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) for susceptible cells are caused mainly by fusion between cells expressing viral envelope glycoproteins and cells expressing CD4 molecule. In this study, we tested the ability of different clones of HIV to induce syncytia in CD4‐positive cells. We have reported marked difference in syncytium‐inducing capacity of 2 clones of human T lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV‐III B ) isolate despite no detectable difference in expression of viral glycoprotein (gpl20). This difference in syncytium induction could be explained by the difference detected in their infectivity and binding activities to CD4‐positive cells. Meanwhile we reported difference in syncytium‐inducing capacity of 2 clones of lymphadenopathy associated virus (LAV 1 ) isolate parallel to the different amounts of gpl20 and other viral proteins expressed by these 2 clones. These results suggest that viral factors like infectivity and binding affinity of the virus to the susceptible cells and the amount of viral gpl20 expressed by the infected cells may interact in a complex manner affecting fusion activity and syncytium induction in CD4‐positive cells.