Apoptosis resistance and the establishment of HIV persistent infeccion

P.N. FERNANDEZ LARROSA, M. VACOTTO, D. RIVA, R. LUZZI, M. SARACCO, S. MERSICH, L. MARTINEZ PERALTA.

Cape Town, Sudáfrica, 19-22 de Julio de 2009.

Congreso; 5th IAS CONFERENCE ON HIV PATHOGENESIS, TREATMENT AND PREVENTION.; 2009

International Aids Society

Background: Lymphoid cells dying during HIV infection are uninfected or acutely infected cells, some of these can survive after infection. The survival of these T cells can be favoured by viral proteins and involve the regulation of the apoptosis mechanisms. Persistently infected cells can play a crucial role in the infection of HIV as reservoir cells. Methods: Cells from the lymphoid cell line H9 were infected with a moi = 1 TCID50/cell or incubated with complete medium as controls. Cells from different time-points post-infection (pi) were treated with 10uM H2O2 and 0,1uM Staurosporine (STS) as apoptotic inducers during 24 hours, or with medium as control. Cells were then collected and stained with annexin-V/IP to analyse the per se effect of infection on cell viabillity or susceptibility to apoptosis inducers. Syncytia production was also evaluated. Results: Cell viability was the same in uninfected and infected cells up to day 4 pi. From this day, viability of infected cells decreased dramaticaly to 20%, mostly due to syncytia formation, while uninfected ones kept at normal levels (90-70%). When apoptosis susceptibility was analysed, infected cells from day 3 pi and treated with apoptosis inducers showed less apoptosis levels (H2O2: 38%; STS: 40%, p