High levels of unintegrated HIV-1 DNA in brain tissue of AIDS dementia patients
- 4 January 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in Nature
- Vol. 343 (6253), 85-89
- https://doi.org/10.1038/343085a0
Abstract
IN the host cell, retro viral DNAs exist in three main forms: unintegrated linear, unintegrated circular, and integrated (the provirus)1. High levels of unintegrated forms of retroviral DNA often correlate with superinfection and accompanying cytopathic effects2–8, as, for example, in the case of feline acquired immunodeficiency7,8. In culture, HIV-1 infection also results in high levels of unintegrated viral DNA although direct correlations with cytopathicity have not been made9,10. The low frequency of HIV-1-infected cells in patients11,12 has made it difficult to determine the structure of the viral DNA in fresh tissue samples from AIDS patients by standard methods such as Southern hybridization. The PCR technique13,14, however, which allows the detection of viral DNA at levels far below that possible by other hybridization methods is, in its conventional form, of limited use for quantitative analysis. To study the amount and form of HIV-1 DNA in primary tissue of AIDS patients we have therefore modified the PCR method. Our results indicate that each of the three species of viral DNA are detectable in blood and brain of AIDS patients and that in autopsy samples from patients with HIV encephalitis there is a considerably higher proportion of unintegrated viral DNA.Keywords
This publication has 31 references indexed in Scilit:
- Human immunodeficiency virus replication in human brain cellsArchiv für die gesamte Virusforschung, 1988
- The Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Infectivity and Mechanisms of PathogenesisScience, 1988
- The Brain in AIDS: Central Nervous System HIV-1 Infection and AIDS Dementia ComplexScience, 1988
- Preliminary molecular characterization of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-I) associated with neuropathologyAnnals of Neurology, 1988
- Concomitant Infection with HTLV-I and HTLV-III in a Patient with T8 Lymphoproliferative DiseaseNew England Journal of Medicine, 1986
- Disease-specific and tissue-specific production of unintegrated feline leukaemia virus variant DNA in feline AIDSNature, 1986
- Enzymatic Amplification of β-Globin Genomic Sequences and Restriction Site Analysis for Diagnosis of Sickle Cell AnemiaScience, 1985
- Isolation of HTLV-III from Cerebrospinal Fluid and Neural Tissues of Patients with Neurologic Syndromes Related to the Acquired Immunodeficiency SyndromeNew England Journal of Medicine, 1985
- Molecular Characterization of Human T-Cell Leukemia (Lymphotropic) Virus Type III in the Acquired Immune Deficiency SyndromeScience, 1984
- DNA of noninfectious and infectious integrated spleen necrosis virus (SNV) is colinear with unintegrated SNV DNA and not grossly abnormalCell, 1979