Analysis of Full-Length HIV Type 1 env Genes Indicates Differences between the Virus Infecting T Cells and Dendritic Cells in Peripheral Blood of Infected Patients

Abstract

Dendritic cells (DC) are targets for HIV-1 infection and may harbor distinct populations of virus variants. To test this hypothesis full length env genes have been amplified and sequenced from DC and T cells purified from the blood of five symptomatic HIV-1-infected patients. For three of the patients, showing slow and slow/standard disease progression, distinct subsets of HIV variants infected DC and T cells, and the diversity of the DC-derived env genes was less than that observed in T cells. Amino acid substitutions differentiating DC and T cell variants were dispersed throughout the length of the glycoproteins and were patient/HIV-1 strain specific. However, the V1 and V2 domains of T cell-derived clones were generally shorter than those from DC. These findings suggest that there may be distinct populations of HIV-1 variants infecting blood DC and T cells in patients showing slow and slow/standard disease progression.