The immunoregulatory cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6) directly upregulates production of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in acutely as well as in chronically infected cells of monocytic lineage. In addition, IL-6 synergizes with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in the induction of latent HIV expression. Unlike TNF-alpha, upregulation of viral expression induced by IL-6 alone does not occur at the transcriptional level and it is not associated with accumulation of HIV RNA. However, when IL-6 and TNF-alpha synergistically stimulate HIV production, accumulation of HIV RNA and increased transcription are observed, indicating that IL-6 affects HIV expression at multiple (transcriptional and post-transcriptional) levels.

Tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-a) is an immunoregulatory cytokine capable of inducing viral expression in cells chronically infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), such as the promonocytic line U1 and the Tlymphocytic line ACH-2. In the present study, we demonstrate an autocrine mechanism of TNF-a-mediated HIV induction.

SummaryInfection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) results in immunosuppression and depletion of circulating CD4 + T cells. Since the thymus is the primary organ in which T cells mature it is of interest to examine the effects of HIV infection in this tissue. HIV infection has been demonstrated in the thymuses of infected individuals and thymocytes have been previously demonstrated to be susceptible to HIV infection both in vivo, using the SCID-hu mouse, and in vitro. The present study sought to determine which subsets of thymocytes were infected in the SCID-hu mouse modal and to evaluate HIV-related alterations in the thymic microenvironment. Using two different primary HIV isolates, infection was found in CD4 +/CD8 + double positive thymocytes as well as in both the CD4 + and CD8 + single positive subsets of thymocytes. The kinetics of infection and resulting viral burden differed among the three thymocyte subsets and depended on which HIV isolate was used for infection. Thymic epithelial (TE) cells were also shown to endocytose virus and to often contain copious amounts of viral RNA in the cytoplasm by in situ hybridization, although productive infection of these cells could not be definitively shown. Furthermore, degenerating TE cells were observed even without detection of HIV in the degenerating cells. Two striking morphologic patterns of infection were seen, involving either predominantly thymocyte infection and depletion, or TE cell involvement with detectable cytoplasmic viral RNA and/or TE cell toxicity. Thus, a variety of cells in the human thymus is susceptible to HIV infection, and infection with HIV results in a marked disruption of the thymic microenvironment leading to depletion of thymocytes and degeneration of TE ceils.

Activation of the immune system by an ongoing antigen-specific immune response to an exogenous stimulus transiently increases the expression of HIV-1 and may enhance the susceptibility of uninfected subjects to HIV-1.

SummaryInterferon "), (IFN-v), a lymphokine that exerts multiple immunoregulatory effects, has been found to be elevated in the plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, and lymph nodes of human immunoddldency virus (HIV)-infected individuals and has shown variable effects on HIV replication in acutely infected cells. In the present study, we have demonstrated that IFN-v is a potent modulator of HIV expression in persistently infected U1 promonocytic cells in which virus production is characterized by a constitutive state of relative latency. Direct stimulation of U1 cells with IFN-'), (10-1,000 U/m1) activated HIV expression, as measured by reverse transcriptase (RT) activity in the culture supernatant and increased levels of cell-associated viral protein and mRNAs. These effects on virus expression were not accounted for by the induction of endogenous TNF-cr secretion, as previously described in U1 cells stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). At the ultrastructural level, the stimulatory activity of IFN-v was correlated with HIV particle production in intracytoplasmic vacuoles along with the differentiation of U1 into macrophage-like cells. Furthermore, costimulation of U1 cells with IFN-v and PMA significantly increased the accumulation of vacuole-associated HIV concomitant with decreasing membrane-associated particles and RT activity production, as compared with cells stimulated with PMA alone. No evidence of spontaneous secretion of intracellular vacuole-associated virus was obtained by kinetic analysis of the RT activity released in the supernatants throughout the culture period unless cells were deliberately disrupted, These findings suggest that vacuole-associated virions likely represent a relatively stable intracellular reservoir of HIV, as previously described in primary macrophages infected in vitro or in infected macrophages in the brains of patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The reduced levels of RT activity observed in the culture supernatants of U1 cells stimulated with PMA in the presence of IFN-3' were not indicative of a suppressive effect of IFN-3' on PMA-induced expression of HIV proteins and mRNAs, either directly or mediated by the release of IFN-od/3. This study suggests that IFN-3' may play an important role as an inducer of HIV expression in infected mononuclear phagocytes.

Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is often followed by a prolonged latent state, and mechanisms of maintaining latency or inducing expression from latency are active areas in AIDS research. It has been previously shown using a variety of viruses and cell systems that ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is capable of inducing the expression of latent viruses as well as augmenting the effects of acute viral infection. The ability of UV irradiation to affect HIV latency was investigated using a chronically HIV-infected, virus nonexpressing promonocytic cell line termed U1. After exposure to UV-C in doses ranging from 0.75 to 2.0 mJ/cm2, U1 cells were induced to express virus as assessed by detection of elevated reverse transcriptase activity and p24 antigen levels in culture supernatants of treated cells compared with unstimulated controls. In addition, immunofluorescence on cytospin preparations of UV-irradiated cells revealed a time-dependent increase in viral antigen production after UV stimulation. A similar increase in RT levels was seen after exposure of U1 cells to UV-B, although somewhat higher doses of UV-B (mJ) were required compared with UV-C (mJ). Viral induction by UV irradiation was associated with a drop in viability and a static growth curve, suggesting that a certain level of cellular stress was most likely necessary to initiate viral expression. The potential role of UV-induced cell damage with activation of a cellular "SOS" repair response is a probable explanation of the enhanced viral production observed.

Virus replication in a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individual, as determined by the steady-state level of plasma viremia, reflects a complex balance of viral and host factors. We have previously demonstrated that immunization of HIV-infected individuals with the common recall antigen, tetanus toxoid, disrupts this steady state, resulting in transient bursts of plasma viremia after immunization. The present study defines the viral genetic basis for the transient bursts in viremia after immune activation. Tetanus immunization was associated with dramatic and generally reversible shifts in the composition of plasma viral quasispecies. The viral bursts in most cases reflected a nonspecific increase in viral replication secondary to an expanded pool of susceptible CD4+ T cells. An exception to this was in a patient who harbored viruses of differing tropisms (syncytium inducing and non-syncytium inducing [NSI]). In this situation, immunization appeared to select for the replication of NSI viruses. In one of three patients, the data suggested that immune activation resulted in the appearance in plasma of virus induced from latently infected cells. These findings illustrate certain mechanisms whereby antigenic stimulation may influence the dynamics of HIV replication, including the relative expression of different viral variants.

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