scholarly journals Tax and Overlapping Rex Sequences Do Not Confer the Distinct Transformation Tropisms of Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Types 1 and 2

2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (14) ◽  
pp. 7728-7735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianxin Ye ◽  
Li Xie ◽  
Patrick L. Green
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia Virus Type ◽  
Human T Cell ◽  
T Cell Leukemia Virus

ABSTRACT Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and HTLV-2 are distinct oncogenic retroviruses that infect several cell types but display their biological and pathogenic activity only in T cells. Previous studies have indicated that in vivo HTLV-1 has a preferential tropism for CD4+ T cells, whereas HTLV-2 in vivo tropism is less clear but appears to favor CD8+ T cells. Both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are susceptible to HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 infection in vitro, and HTLV-1 has a preferential immortalization and transformation tropism of CD4+ T cells, whereas HTLV-2 immortalizes and transforms primarily CD8+ T cells. The molecular mechanism that determines this tropism of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 has not been determined. HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 carry the tax and rex transregulatory genes in separate but partially overlapping reading frames. Since Tax has been shown to be critical for cellular transformation in vitro and interacts with numerous cellular processes, we hypothesized that the viral determinant of transformation tropism is encoded by tax. Using molecular clones of HTLV-1 (Ach) and HTLV-2 (pH6neo), we constructed recombinants in which tax and overlapping rex genes of the two viruses were exchanged. p19 Gag expression from proviral clones transfected into 293T cells indicated that both recombinants contained functional Tax and Rex but with significantly altered activity compared to the wild-type clones. Stable transfectants expressing recombinant viruses were established, irradiated, and cocultured with peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Both recombinants were competent to transform T lymphocytes with an efficiency similar to that of the parental viruses. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that HTLV-1 and HTLV-1/TR2 had a preferential tropism for CD4+ T cells and that HTLV-2 and HTLV-2/TR1 had a preferential tropism for CD8+ T cells. Our results indicate that tax/rex in different genetic backgrounds display altered functional activity but ultimately do not contribute to the different in vitro transformation tropisms. This first study with recombinants between HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 is the initial step in elucidating the different pathobiologies of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2.

scholarly journals Essential Role of Human T Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1orf-Iin Lethal Proliferation of CD4+Cells in Humanized Mice

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Galli ◽  
Christopher C. Nixon ◽  
Natasa Strbo ◽  
Maria Artesi ◽  
Maria F. de Castro-Amarante ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
Humanized Mice ◽  
T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia Virus Type ◽  
Human T Cell ◽  
T Cell Leukemia Virus

ABSTRACTHuman T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the ethological agent of adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) and a number of lymphocyte-mediated inflammatory conditions, including HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis. HTLV-1orf-Iencodes two proteins, p8 and p12, whose functions in humans are to counteract innate and adaptive responses and to support viral transmission. However, thein vivorequirements fororf-Iexpression vary in different animal models. In macaques, the ablation oforf-Iexpression by mutation of its ATG initiation codon abolishes the infectivity of the molecular clone HTLV-1p12KO. In rabbits, HTLV-1p12KOis infective and persists efficiently. We used humanized mouse models to assess the infectivity of both wild-type HTLV-1 (HTLV-1WT) and HTLV-1p12KO. We found that NOD/SCID/γC−/−c-kit+mice engrafted with human tissues 1 day after birth (designated NSG-1d mice) were highly susceptible to infection by HTLV-1WT, with a syndrome characterized by the rapid polyclonal proliferation and infiltration of CD4+CD25+T cells into vital organs, weight loss, and death. HTLV-1 clonality studies revealed the presence of multiple clones of low abundance, confirming the polyclonal expansion of HTLV-1-infected cellsin vivo. HTLV-1p12KOinfection in a bone marrow-liver-thymus (BLT) mouse model prone to graft-versus-host disease occurred only following reversion of theorf-Iinitiation codon mutation within weeks after exposure and was associated with high levels of HTLV-1 DNA in blood and the expansion of CD4+CD25+T cells. Thus, the incomplete reconstitution of the human immune system in BLT mice may provide a window of opportunity for HTLV-1 replication and the selection of viral variants with greater fitness.IMPORTANCEHumanized mice constitute a useful model for studying the HTLV-1-associated polyclonal proliferation of CD4+T cells and viral integration sites in the human genome. The rapid death of infected animals, however, appears to preclude the clonal selection typically observed in human ATLL, which normally develops in 2 to 5% of individuals infected with HTLV-1. Nevertheless, the expansion of multiple clones of low abundance in these humanized mice mirrors the early phase of HTLV-1 infection in humans, providing a useful model to investigate approaches to inhibit virus-induced CD4+T cell proliferation.

scholarly journals Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Expressing Nonoverlapping Tax and Rex Genes Replicates and Immortalizes Primary Human T Lymphocytes but Fails To Replicate and Persist In Vivo

2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (23) ◽  
pp. 14473-14481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ihab Younis ◽  
Brenda Yamamoto ◽  
Andrew Phipps ◽  
Patrick L. Green
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia Virus Type ◽  
Human T Cell ◽  
T Cell Leukemia Virus

ABSTRACT Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is an oncogenic retrovirus associated primarily with adult T-cell leukemia and neurological disease. HTLV-1 encodes the positive trans-regulatory proteins Tax and Rex, both of which are essential for viral replication. Tax activates transcription initiation from the viral long terminal repeat and modulates the transcription or activity of a number of cellular genes. Rex regulates gene expression posttranscriptionally by facilitating the cytoplasmic expression of incompletely spliced viral mRNAs. Tax and Rex mutants have been identified that have defective activities or impaired biochemical properties associated with their function. To ultimately determine the contribution of specific protein activities on viral replication and cellular transformation of primary T cells, mutants need to be characterized in the context of an infectious molecular clone. Since the tax and rex genes are in partially overlapping reading frames, mutation in one gene frequently disrupts the other, confounding interpretation of mutational analyses in the context of the virus. Here we generated and characterized a unique proviral clone (H1IT) in which the tax and rex genes were separated by expressing Tax from an internal ribosome entry site. We showed that H1IT expresses both functional Tax and Rex. In short- and long-term coculture assays, H1IT was competent to infect and immortalize primary human T cells similar to wild-type HTLV-1. In contrast, H1IT failed to efficiently replicate and persist in inoculated rabbits, thus emphasizing the importance of temporal and quantitative regulation of specific mRNA for viral survival in vivo.

scholarly journals Biochemical Characterization, Specificity and Inhibition Studies of HTLV-1, HTLV-2, and HTLV-3 Proteases

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Norbert Kassay ◽  
János András Mótyán ◽  
Krisztina Matúz ◽  
Mária Golda ◽  
József Tőzsér
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Biochemical Characterization ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia Virus Type ◽  
Adult T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Human T Cell ◽  
T Cell Leukemia Virus

The human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLVs) are causative agents of severe diseases including adult T-cell leukemia. Similar to human immunodeficiency viruses (HIVs), the viral protease (PR) plays a crucial role in the viral life-cycle via the processing of the viral polyproteins. Thus, it is a potential target of anti-retroviral therapies. In this study, we performed in vitro comparative analysis of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1, 2, and 3 (HTLV-1, -2, and -3) proteases. Amino acid preferences of S4 to S1′ subsites were studied by using a series of synthetic oligopeptide substrates representing the natural and modified cleavage site sequences of the proteases. Biochemical characteristics of the different PRs were also determined, including catalytic efficiencies and dependence of activity on pH, temperature, and ionic strength. We investigated the effects of different HIV-1 PR inhibitors (atazanavir, darunavir, DMP-323, indinavir, ritonavir, and saquinavir) on enzyme activities, and inhibitory potentials of IB-268 and IB-269 inhibitors that were previously designed against HTLV-1 PR. Comparative biochemical analysis of HTLV-1, -2, and -3 PRs may help understand the characteristic similarities and differences between these enzymes in order to estimate the potential of the appearance of drug-resistance against specific HTLV-1 PR inhibitors.

scholarly journals Functional Comparison of HBZ and the Related APH-2 Protein Provides Insight into Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Pathogenesis

2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (7) ◽  
pp. 3760-3772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda R. Panfil ◽  
Nathan J. Dissinger ◽  
Cory M. Howard ◽  
Brandon M. Murphy ◽  
Kristina Landes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
Antisense Strand ◽  
T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia Virus Type ◽  
Human T Cell ◽  
T Cell Leukemia Virus

ABSTRACTHuman T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and type 2 (HTLV-2) are highly related retroviruses that transform T cellsin vitrobut have distinct pathological outcomesin vivo. HTLV-1 encodes a protein from the antisense strand of its proviral genome, the HTLV-1 basic leucine zipper factor (HBZ), which inhibits Tax-1-mediated viral transcription and promotes cell proliferation, a high proviral load, and persistencein vivo. In adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) cell lines and patient T cells,hbzis often the only viral gene expressed. The antisense strand of the HTLV-2 proviral genome also encodes a protein termed APH-2. Like HBZ, APH-2 is able to inhibit Tax-2-mediated viral transcription and is detectable in most primary lymphocytes from HTLV-2-infected patients. However, unlike HBZ, the loss of APH-2in vivoresults in increased viral replication and proviral loads, suggesting that HBZ and APH-2 modulate the virus and cellular pathways differently. Herein, we examined the effect of APH-2 on several known HBZ-modulated pathways: NF-κB (p65) transactivation, transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling, and interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF-1) transactivation. Like HBZ, APH-2 has the ability to inhibit p65 transactivation. Conversely, HBZ and APH-2 have divergent effects on TGF-β signaling and IRF-1 transactivation. Quantitative PCR and protein half-life experiments revealed a substantial disparity between HBZ and APH-2 transcript levels and protein stability, respectively. Taken together, our data further elucidate the functional differences between HBZ and APH-2 and how these differences can have profound effects on the survival of infected cells and, ultimately, pathogenesis.IMPORTANCEHuman T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and type 2 (HTLV-2) are highly related retroviruses that have distinct pathological outcomes in infected hosts. Functional comparisons of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 proteins provide a better understanding about how HTLV-1 infection is associated with disease and HTLV-2 infection is not. The HTLV genome antisense-strand geneshbzandaph-2are often the only viral genes expressed in HTLV-infected T cells. Previously, our group found that HTLV-1 HBZ and HTLV-2 APH-2 had distinct effectsin vivoand hypothesized that the differences in the interactions of HBZ and APH-2 with important cell signaling pathways dictate whether cells undergo proliferation, apoptosis, or senescence. Ultimately, these functional differences may affect how HTLV-1 causes disease but HTLV-2 generally does not. In the current study, we compared the effects of HBZ and APH-2 on several HTLV-relevant cellular pathways, including the TGF-β signaling, NF-κB activation, and IRF-1 transactivation pathways.

scholarly journals Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Infection Leads to Arrest in the G1 Phase of the Cell Cycle

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (17) ◽  
pp. 8442-8455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meihong Liu ◽  
Liangpeng Yang ◽  
Ling Zhang ◽  
Baoying Liu ◽  
Randall Merling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia Virus Type ◽  
Human T Cell ◽  
T Cell Leukemia Virus

ABSTRACT Infection by the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is thought to cause dysregulated T-cell proliferation, which in turn leads to adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. Early cellular changes after HTLV-1 infection have been difficult to study due to the poorly infectious nature of HTLV-1 and the need for cell-to-cell contact for HTLV-1 transmission. Using a series of reporter systems, we show that HeLa cells cease proliferation within one or two division cycles after infection by HTLV-1 or transduction of the HTLV-1 tax gene. HTLV-1-infected HeLa cells, like their tax-transduced counterparts, expressed high levels of p21 CIP1/WAF1 and p27 KIP1 , developed mitotic abnormalities, and became arrested in G1 in senescence. In contrast, cells of a human osteosarcoma lineage (HOS) continued to divide after HTLV-1 infection or Tax expression, albeit at a reduced growth rate and with mitotic aberrations. Unique to HOS cells is the dramatic reduction of p21 CIP1/WAF1 and p27 KIP1 expression, which is in part associated with the constitutive activation of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (Akt) pathway. The loss of p21 CIP1/WAF1 and p27 KIP1 in HOS cells apparently allows HTLV-1- and Tax-induced G1 arrest to be bypassed. Finally, HTLV-1 infection and Tax expression also cause human SupT1 T cells to arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. These results suggest that productive HTLV-1 infection ordinarily leads to Tax-mediated G1 arrest. However, T cells containing somatic mutations that inactivate p21 CIP1/WAF1 and p27 KIP1 may continue to proliferate after HTLV-1 infection and Tax expression. These infected cells can expand clonally, accumulate additional chromosomal abnormalities, and progress to cancer.

scholarly journals Repression of Tax Expression Is Associated both with Resistance of Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1-Infected T Cells to Killing by Tax-Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes and with Impaired Tumorigenicity in a Rat Model

2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 3827-3836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Machiko Nomura ◽  
Takashi Ohashi ◽  
Keiko Nishikawa ◽  
Hironori Nishitsuji ◽  
Kiyoshi Kurihara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia Virus Type ◽  
Human T Cell ◽  
T Cell Leukemia Virus ◽  
Infected Cells

ABSTRACT Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) causes adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). Although the viral transactivation factor, Tax, has been known to have apparent transforming ability, the exact function of Tax in ATL development is still not clear. To understand the role of Tax in ATL development, we introduced short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) against Tax in a rat HTLV-1-infected T-cell line. Our results demonstrated that expression of siRNA targeting Tax successfully downregulated Tax expression. Repression of Tax expression was associated with resistance of the HTLV-1-infected T cells to Tax-specific cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte killing. This may be due to the direct effect of decreased Tax expression, because the Tax siRNA did not alter the expression of MHC-I, CD80, or CD86. Furthermore, T cells with Tax downregulation appeared to lose the ability to develop tumors in T-cell-deficient nude rats, in which the parental HTLV-1-infected cells induce ATL-like lymphoproliferative disease. These results indicated the importance of Tax both for activating host immune response against the virus and for maintaining the growth ability of infected cells in vivo. Our results provide insights into the mechanisms how the host immune system can survey and inhibit the growth of HTLV-1-infected cells during the long latent period before the onset of ATL.

scholarly journals Hyperediting of human T-cell leukemia virus type 2 and simian T-cell leukemia virus type 3 by the dsRNA adenosine deaminase ADAR-1

2012 ◽  
Vol 93 (12) ◽  
pp. 2646-2651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nga Ling Ko ◽  
Emmanuel Birlouez ◽  
Simon Wain-Hobson ◽  
Renaud Mahieux ◽  
Jean-Pierre Vartanian
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Virus Type ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia Virus Type ◽  
Human T Cell ◽  
T Cell Leukemia Virus ◽  
Type 3

RNA editing mediated by adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) converts adenosine (A) to inosine (I) residues in dsRNA templates. While ADAR-1-mediated editing was essentially described for RNA viruses, the present work addresses the issue for two δ-retroviruses, human T-cell leukemia virus type 2 and simian T-cell leukemia virus type 3 (HTLV-2 and STLV-3). We examined whether ADAR-1 could edit HTLV-2 and STLV-3 virus genomes in cell culture and in vivo. Using a highly sensitive PCR-based method, referred to as 3DI-PCR, we showed that ADAR-1 could hypermutate adenosine residues in HTLV-2. STLV-3 hypermutation was obtained without using 3DI-PCR, suggesting a higher mutation frequency for this virus. Detailed analysis of the dinucleotide editing context showed preferences for 5′ ArA and 5′ UrA. In conclusion, the present observations demonstrate that ADAR-1 massively edits HTLV-2 and STLV-3 retroviruses in vitro, but probably remains a rare phenomenon in vivo.

scholarly journals Prevention of Adult T-Cell Leukemia-Like Lymphoproliferative Disease in Rats by Adoptively Transferred T Cells from a Donor Immunized with Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Tax-Coding DNA Vaccine

2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (20) ◽  
pp. 9610-9616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Ohashi ◽  
Shino Hanabuchi ◽  
Hirotomo Kato ◽  
Hiromi Tateno ◽  
Fumiyo Takemura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Dna Vaccine ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia Virus Type ◽  
Adult T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Human T Cell

ABSTRACT Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) causes adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) in infected individuals after a long incubation period. To dissect the mechanisms of the development of the disease, we have previously established a rat model of ATL-like disease which allows examination of the growth and spread of HTLV-1 infected tumor cells, as well assessment of the effects of immune T cells on the development of the disease. In the present study, we induced HTLV-1 Tax-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) immunity by vaccination with Tax-coding DNA and examined the effects of the DNA vaccine in our rat ATL-like disease model. Our results demonstrated that DNA vaccine with Tax effectively induced Tax-specific CTL activity in F344/N Jcl-rnu/+ (nu/+) rats and that these CTLs were able to lyse HTLV-1 infected syngeneic T cells in vitro. Adoptive transfer of these immune T cells effectively inhibited the in vivo growth of HTLV-1-transformed tumor in F344/N Jcl-rnu/rnu (nu/nu) rats inoculated with a rat HTLV-1 infected T cell line. Vaccination with mutant Tax DNA lacking transforming ability also induced efficient anti-tumor immunity in this model. Our results indicated a promising effect for DNA vaccine with HTLV-1 Tax against HTLV-1 tumor development in vivo.

scholarly journals Human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 antisense-encoded gene, Hbz, promotes T-lymphocyte proliferation

Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (9) ◽  
pp. 3788-3797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Arnold ◽  
Bevin Zimmerman ◽  
Min Li ◽  
Michael D. Lairmore ◽  
Patrick L. Green
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cell Survival ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
T Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia ◽  
Cell Leukemia Virus Type ◽  
Human T Cell ◽  
T Cell Leukemia Virus

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) basic leucine zipper factor (HBZ) is dispensable for HTLV-1–mediated cellular transformation in cell culture, but is required for efficient viral infectivity and persistence in rabbits. In most adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) cells, Tax oncoprotein expression is typically low or undetectable, whereas Hbz gene expression is maintained, suggesting that Hbz expression may support infected cell survival and, ultimately, leukemogenesis. Emerging data indicate that HBZ protein can interact with cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) and Jun family members, altering transcription factor binding and transactivation of both viral and cellular promoters. Herein, lentiviral vectors that express Hbz-specific short hairpin (sh)–RNA effectively decreased both Hbz mRNA and HBZ protein expression in transduced HTLV-1–transformed SLB-1 T cells. Hbz knockdown correlated with a significant decrease in T-cell proliferation in culture. Both SLB-1 and SLB-1-Hbz knockdown cells engrafted into inoculated NOD/SCIDγchain−/− mice to form solid tumors that also infiltrated multiple tissues. However, tumor formation and organ infiltration were significantly decreased in animals challenged with SLB-1-Hbz knockdown cells. Our data indicate that Hbz expression enhances the proliferative capacity of HTLV-1–infected T cells, playing a critical role in cell survival and ultimately HTLV-1 tumorigenesis in the infected host.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document