Full-length CD4 electroinserted in the erythrocyte membrane as a long-lived inhibitor of infection by human immunodeficiency virus

Journal Article · Wed May 15 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.88.10.4409· OSTI ID:6097046

Zeira, M; Volsky, D J ^[1]; Tosi, P F; Mouneimne, Y; Lazarte, J; Sneed, L; Nicolau, C ^[2]

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1. Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
2. Texas A and M Univ., College Station (United States)

Recombinant full-length CD4 expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda 9 cells with the baculovirus system was electroinserted in erythrocyte (RBC) membranes. Of the inserted CD4, 70% was correctly oriented as shown by fluorescence quenching experiments with fluorescein-labeled CD4. The inserted CD4 displayed the same epitopes as the naturally occurring CD4 in human T4 cells. Double-labeling experiments ({sup 125}I-CD4 and {sup 51}Cr-RBC) showed that the half-life of CD4 electroinserted in RBC membrane in rabbits was approximately 7 days. Using the fluorescence dequenching technique with octadecylrhodamine B-labeled human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1, the authors showed fusion of the HIV envelope with the plasma membrane of RBC-CD4, whereas no such fusion could be detected with RBC. The dequenching efficiency of RBC-CD4 is the same as that of CEM cells. Exposure to anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody OKT4A, which binds to the CD4 region that attaches to envelope glycoprotein gp120, caused a significant decrease in the dequenching of fluorescence. In vitro infectivity studies showed that preincubation of HIV-1 with RBC-CD4 reduced by 80-90% the appearance of HIV antigens in target cells, the amount of viral reverse transcriptase, and the amount of p24 core antigen produced by the target cells. RBC-CD4, but not RBCs, aggregated with chronically HIV-1-infected T cells and caused formation of giant cells. These data show that the RBC-CD4 reagent is relatively long lived in circulation and efficient in attaching to HIV-1 and HIV-infected cells, and thus it may have value as a therapeutic agent against AIDS.

• OSTI ID: 6097046
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (United States), Vol. 88:10; ISSN 0027-8424
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
AIDS VIRUS
RECEPTORS
MEMBRANE PROTEINS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CELL MEMBRANES
CHROMIUM 51
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FLUORESCENCE
GLYCOPROTEINS
INHIBITION
IODINE 125
LIFE SPAN
LYMPHOCYTES
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BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
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BLOOD
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BODY FLUIDS
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CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
IODINE ISOTOPES
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LUMINESCENCE
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
MEMBRANES
MICROORGANISMS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
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SOMATIC CELLS
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550201* - Biochemistry- Tracer Techniques