HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV) INFECTS MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS (MSCS) AND MODULATES THEIR DIFFERENTIATION INTO ADIPOCYTES

FREIBERGER, ROSA NICOLE; LÓPEZ, CINTHYA ALICIA MARCELA; SVIERCZ, FRANCO; GUANO, ALEX; CEVALLOS, CINTIA; JARMOLUK, PATRICIO; PALMA, MARIA BELEN; GARCIA, MARCELA; QUARLERI, JORGE; DELPINO, M. VICTORIA

San Luis

Otro; LXXI REUNIÓN CIENTÍFICA ANUAL DE LA SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE INMUNOLOGÍA (SAI); 2023

Sociedad Argentina de Inmunología (SAI)

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) can differentiate into adipocytes and osteoblasts in a process that can be altered in pathological conditions, such as HIV infection. The objective of the present work was to determine if HIV could infect MSCs and modulate their differentiation into adipocytes or osteoblasts. We decided to determine if these cells were susceptible to HIV infection. To do this, we evaluated the expression of the CD4 receptor and the CXCR4 and CCR5 co-receptors using the flow cytometry technique. We show that these cells express these molecules at low levels. Assays of infection of MSCs with HIV (NL43 (X4) and AD8 (R5)) at an MOI of 0.5 pg (p24) indicated that both viral tropisms were capable of infecting MSC. The presence of the proviral genome in the MSCs, determined by Alu-PCR, was preserved. To determine if HIV could modulate the differentiation of MSCs to adipocytes, cells were infected at an MOI of 0.5 pg (p24) in the presence of differentiation medium (0.5mM isobutyryl; 10ug/ml insulin; 0.01 dexamethasone uM). Lipid droplet formation was determined by confocal microscopy by staining with Bodipy 493/503. After 7 days, we observed that HIV modulated the differentiation of MSCs to adipocytes, observing differences between both viral tropisms; HIV-AD8 was able to stimulate adipocyte differentiation (p