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Generation of HIV-1 derivatives that productively infect macaque monkey lymphoid cells.

Kamada K, Igarashi T, Martin MA, Khamsri B, Hatcho K, Yamashita T, Fujita M, Uchiyama T, Adachi A

Department of Virology, Institute of Health Biosciences, University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima-shi, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.

The narrow host range of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is caused in part by innate cellular factors such as apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme-catalytic polypeptide-like 3G (APOBEC3G) and TRIM5alpha, which restrict virus replication in monkey cells. Variant HIV-1 molecular clones containing both a 21-nucleotide simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) Gag CA element, corresponding to the HIV-1 cyclophilin A-binding site, and the entire SIV vif gene were constructed. Long-term passage in a cynomolgus monkey lymphoid cell line resulted in the acquisition of two nonsynonymous changes in env, which conferred improved replication properties. A proviral molecular clone, derived from infected cells and designated NL-DT5R, was used to generate virus stocks capable of establishing spreading infections in the cynomolgus monkey T cell line and CD8-depleted peripheral blood mononuclear cells from five of five pig-tailed macaques and one of three rhesus monkeys. NL-DT5R, which genetically is >93% HIV-1, provides the opportunity, not possible with currently available SIV/HIV chimeric viruses, to analyze the function of multiple HIV-1 genes in a broad range of nonhuman primate species.

Published 8 November 2006 in Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 103(45): 16959-64.
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