Transmission of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 tax to rabbits by tax-only-positive human cells.

Abstract

The human T-cell lymphrotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is causally related to adult T-cell leukemia and lymphoma and the neurodegenerative diseases tropical spastic paraparesis and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy. In the United States the prevalence of infection has been estimated to range from 0.016 to 0.1% on the basis of serologic tests for antibodies to the viral structural proteins. Blood from donors positive for antibodies to HTLV-1 or HTLV-2 is not used for transfusion. However, patients with the cutaneous T-cell lymphoma mycosis fungoides (MF) are HTLV-1 and -2 seronegative yet harbor proviral sequences identical to those that encode the HTLV-1 transactivating and transforming gene product p40tax in their peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and they usually have antibodies to p40(tax). Moreover, a study of 250 randomly selected blood donors revealed that approximately 8% of these seronegative individuals also had HTLV-1 tax sequences and antibodies to p40(tax), while they lacked sequences and antibodies related to gag, pol, or env. Thus, it seemed important to determine whether the "tax-only" state can be transmitted by transfusion. To this end, PBMCs from HTLV-1 and -2 seronegative tax-only-positive MF patients or from healthy tax-only-positive blood donors were injected into adult rabbits, an established animal model for HTLV-1 infection. The PBMCs of all injected rabbits became tax sequence positive. These observations suggest that HTLV-1 tax can be transmitted by tax-only-positive mononuclear cells.

• Authors: D Zucker-Franklin, B A Pancake, P Lalezari, M Khorshidi
• Journal: Clinical and diagnostic laboratory immunology (Clin Diagn Lab Immunol) Vol. 7 Issue 2 Pg. 274-8 (Mar 2000) ISSN: 1071-412X [Print] United States
• PMID: 10702504 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Antigens, CD
• CD24 Antigen
• CD24 protein, human
• Gene Products, tax
• Membrane Glycoproteins

Topics

• Animals
• Antigens, CD (genetics)
• Base Sequence
• CD24 Antigen
• Cell Transplantation
• Gene Products, tax (genetics)
• Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (genetics, immunology)
• Humans
• Membrane Glycoproteins
• Molecular Sequence Data
• Rabbits