Detection, Isolation, and Continuous Production of Cytopathic Retroviruses (HTLV-III) from Patients with AIDS and Pre-AIDS

TLDR

A cell system was developed to reproducibly detect human T‑lymphotropic retroviruses (HTLV family) in patients with AIDS or pre‑AIDS. The system employs specific clones derived from a permissive human neoplastic T‑cell line to detect HTLV family viruses. Infected clones grow permanently and continuously produce large amounts of cytopathic HTLV‑III virus, and the characteristic ring formation of multinucleated giant cells provides a reliable detection indicator, enabling routine screening of HTLV‑III and related variants and supplying abundant virus for detailed molecular and immunological analyses.

Abstract

A cell system was developed for the reproducible detection of human T-lymphotropic retroviruses (HTLV family) from patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or with signs or symptoms that frequently precede AIDS (pre-AIDS). The cells are specific clones from a permissive human neoplastic T-cell line. Some of the clones permanently grow and continuously produce large amounts of virus after infection with cytopathic (HTLV-III) variants of these viruses. One cytopathic effect of HTLV-III in this system is the arrangement of multiple nuclei in a characteristic ring formation in giant cells of the infected T-cell population. These structures can be used as an indicator to detect HTLV-III in clinical specimens. This system opens the way to the routine detection of HTLV-III and related cytopathic variants of HTLV in patients with AIDS or pre-AIDS and in healthy carriers, and it provides large amounts of virus for detailed molecular and immunological analyses.