Brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) are targets of CD4-independent infection by HIV-1 and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) strains in vitro and in vivo. Infection of BCECs may provide a portal of entry for the virus into the central nervous system and could disrupt blood-brain barrier function, contributing to the development of AIDS dementia. We found that rhesus macaque BCECs express chemokine receptors involved in HIV and SIV entry including CCR5, CCR3, CXCR4, and STRL33, but not CCR2b, GPR1, or GPR15. Infection of BCECs by the neurovirulent strain SIV͞17E-Fr was completely inhibited by aminooxypentane regulation upon activation, normal T cell expression and secretion in the presence or absence of ligands, but not by eotaxin or antibodies to CD4. We found that the envelope (env) proteins from SIV͞17E-Fr and several additional SIV strains mediated cell-cell fusion and virus infection with CD4-negative, CCR5-positive cells. In contrast, fusion with cells expressing the coreceptors STRL33, GPR1, and GPR15 was CD4-dependent. These results show that CCR5 can serve as a primary receptor for SIV in BCECs and suggest a possible CD4-independent mechanism for blood-brain barrier disruption and viral entry into the central nervous system.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) requires both CD4 and a coreceptor to infect cells. Macrophage-tropic (M-tropic) HIV-1 strains utilize the chemokine receptor CCR5 in conjunction with CD4 to infect cells, while T-cell-tropic (T-tropic) strains generally utilize CXCR4 as a coreceptor. Some viruses can use both CCR5 and CXCR4 for virus entry (i.e., are dual-tropic), while other chemokine receptors can be used by a subset of virus strains. Due to the genetic diversity of HIV-1, HIV-2, and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and the potential for chemokine receptors other than CCR5 or CXCR4 to influence viral pathogenesis, we tested a panel of 28 HIV-1, HIV-2, and SIV envelope (Env) proteins for the ability to utilize chemokine receptors, orphan receptors, and herpesvirus-encoded chemokine receptor homologs by membrane fusion and virus infection assays. While all Env proteins used either CCR5 or CXCR4 or both, several also used CCR3. Use of CCR3 was strongly dependent on its surface expression levels, with a larger number of viral Env proteins being able to utilize this coreceptor at the higher levels of surface expression. ChemR1, an orphan receptor recently shown to bind the CC chemokine I309 (and therefore renamed CCR8), was expressed in monocyte and lymphocyte cell populations and functioned as a coreceptor for diverse HIV-1, HIV-2, and SIV Env proteins. Use of ChemR1/CCR8 by SIV strains was dependent in part on V3 loop sequences. The orphan receptor V28 supported Env-mediated cell-cell fusion by four T-or dual-tropic HIV-1 and HIV-2 strains. Three additional orphan receptors failed to function for any of the 28 Env proteins tested. Likewise, five of six seven-transmembrane-domain receptors encoded by herpesviruses did not support Env-mediated membrane fusion. However, the chemokine receptor US28, encoded by cytomegalovirus, did support inefficient infection by two HIV-1 strains. These findings indicate that additional chemokine receptors can function as HIV and SIV coreceptors and that surface expression levels can strongly influence coreceptor use.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), strain AD169, contains four genes (US27, US28, UL33, and UL78) that encode putative homologues of cellular G protein-coupled receptors (GCRs). GCRs transduce extracellular signals to alter intracellular processes, and there is evidence that HCMV may elicit such changes at early times following infection. The US27, US28, and UL33 genes are transcribed during infection, and the US28 gene product has been found to be a functional receptor for the beta-chemokine class of immune modulators. The US27, UL33, and UL78 gene products have not been described and we have concentrated on identifying the UL33 protein because it is the most highly conserved of the GCR homologues among the human beta and gamma herpesviruses. We report here cloning UL33 into a recombinant baculovirus (rBV) and expressing it in insect cells; constructing a mutant HCMV with a disrupted UL33 gene; and identifying the UL33 protein in HCMV-infected cells and virus particles. Our results demonstrate that the UL33 protein (i) is expressed as a approximately 36-kDa, heat-aggregatable protein in rBV-infected cells, (ii) is modified heterogeneously by asparagine-linked glycosylation and expressed as a > or = 58-kDa glycoprotein that is present in the region of the cytoplasmic inclusions in HCMV-infected fibroblasts, (iii) is present in virions and two other enveloped virus particles, and (iv) is not essential for growth of HCMV in human foreskin fibroblast cultures.