HSV-2- and HIV-1- permissive cell lines co-infected by HSV-2 and HIV-1 co-replicate HSV-2 and HIV-1 without production of HSV-2/HIV-1 pseudotype particles

Jérôme LeGoff¹, Hicham Bouhlal¹, Maxime Lecerf¹, Christophe Klein², Hakim Hocini¹, Ali Si-Mohamed¹, Martin Muggeridge³ and Laurent Bélec¹

¹Université Paris V, Equipe « Immunité et Biothérapie Muqueuse », Unité INSERM Internationale U743 (« Immunologie Humaine »), Centre de Recherches, Biomédicales des Cordeliers, & Laboratoire de Virologie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
²Service Commun d’Imagerie Cellulaire et de Cytométrie, INSERM IFR58, Centre de Recherches Biomédicales des Cordeliers, Paris, France
³Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State, University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA 71130, USA

Background

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is a major cofactor of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) sexual acquisition and transmission. In the present study, we investigated whether HIV-1 and HSV-2 may interact at the cellular level by forming HIV-1 hybrid virions pseudotyped with HSV-2 envelope glycoproteins, as was previously reported for HSV type 1.

Methods

We evaluated in vitro the production of HSV-2/HIV-1 pseudotypes in mononuclear CEM cells and epithelial HT29 and P4P cells. We analyzed the incorporation into the HIV-1 membrane of HSV-2 gB and gD, two major HSV-2 glycoproteins required for HSV-2 fusion with the cell membrane, in co-infected cells and in HIV-1-infected P4P cells transfected by plasmids coding for gB or gD.

Results

We show that HSV-2 and HIV-1 co-replicated in dually infected cells, and gB and gD were co-localized with gp160. However, HIV-1 particles, produced in HIV-1-infected cells expressing gB or gD after transfection or HSV-2 superinfection, did not incorporate either gB or gD in the viral membrane, and did not have the capacity to infect cells normally non-permissive for HIV-1, such as epithelial cells.

Conclusion

Our results do not support the hypothesis of HSV-2/HIV-1 pseudotype formation and involvement in the synergistic genital interactions between HIV-1 and HSV-2.

Virology Journal 2007, 4:2. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.