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Biomedical subjects

C Royer

Publications and source records attributed to C Royer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Productive infection of primary cultures of endothelial cells from the cat liver sinusoid with the feline immunodeficiency virus.

Given the similarities between the two viruses, the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is becoming an interesting animal model for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) studies. To explore the still controversial role of the liver in the development of HIV infection, sinusoidal endothelial cells (SEC) were isolated, and primary cultures were infected with the FIV Villefranche IFFA strain. The isolated cells were characterized by their typical fenestrations, the presence of von Willebrand factor (vWf), and their ability to take up acetylated low-density lipoproteins and denatured collagen. Two weeks after infection, significant amounts of FIV p24 antigen were detected by immunofluorescence in both multinucleated giant and single cells and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the culture medium. High amounts of viral particles were observed together with different steps of budding at the plasma membrane or at the membrane of intracytoplasmic vacuoles. The released viral particles were shown to be infectious for a permissive cell line. During the first 3 weeks of infection, the only cytopathic effect of FIV was syncytia formation. No noticeable impairment of the pattern of fenestrations and the modulation of their number by a cytoskeleton-mediated process occurred. The productive infection of SEC may contribute to the progression of the infection.

Animals

Mouse hepatitis virus type 3 infection provokes a decrease in the number of sinusoidal endothelial cell fenestrae both in vivo and in vitro.

Fenestrations of hepatic endothelial cells play an active role as a sieving barrier allowing extensive exchange between the blood and liver parenchyma. Alteration of these structures may be induced in the course of various pathological events and provoke important perturbations of liver function. We demonstrate here that sinusoidal endothelial cells are permissive for mouse hepatitis virus 3 (MHV3) in vivo and in vitro and that this infection leads to a striking decrease in the number of fenestrae. The disappearance of these structures observed under scanning electron microscopy or in cryofracture preparations in vivo and in vitro cannot be reversed by the action of cytochalasin B on the microfilament network. The decrease in the porosity seems to be related directly to the productive infection of the endothelial cells, because it was not observed in A/J mice resistant to the virus and in susceptible BALB/c mice immunized with a thermosensitive mutant in which no viral replication occurs. In conclusion, a viral infection of liver endothelial cells may cause extensive loss of the fenestrations and thus lead to important functional pertubations.

Animals

Permissiveness of Kupffer cells for simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and morphological changes in the liver of rhesus monkeys at different periods of SIV infection.

The pathogenesis of liver injury, which remains unclear in the course of human immunodeficiency virus infection, can be investigated in simian immunodeficiency virus-infected macaques, which develop an immunodeficiency disease resembling human acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). We studied the livers of 21 monkeys infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVmac251) for 4 days to 39 months and detected viral antigens in Kupffer cells, macrophages, and lymphocytes in 65% of the livers tested. Virus-containing cells were present in 5 out of 9 livers tested as early as 4 days postinoculation. The number of positive cells as well as their content in viral proteins substantially increased in sinusoidal cells with the progression of the disease. Morphological features and double immunolabeling indicated that Kupffer cells constituted the predominant cell type containing viral antigens. The presence of multinucleated giant cells displaying the ultrastructural features of resident liver macrophages was another sign of the productive infection of Kupffer cells in vivo, which was attested by the observation of budding, immature, and mature SIV particles. Kupffer cell hyperplasia and hypertrophy were evident and appeared to be related to the development of SIV infection, because a close correlation was found between antigenemia and the surface area occupied by these cells. The Kupffer cells contained apoptotic lymphocytes, indicating that resident liver macrophages could play a role in the uptake of such cells from the blood. The production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and, possibly, interferon-alpha by Kupffer cells, the expression of vascular adhesion molecule-1, (VCAM-1), intralobular and periportal inflammation, and the proliferation and expansion of bile duct cells were other signs of liver involvement in SIV infection.

Animals

HIV-1 infection induces functional alterations in human liver endothelial cells in primary culture.

OBJECTIVES: Since human liver endothelial cells allow HIV-1 multiplication in vitro, we investigated whether HIV induced functional alterations in these cells in primary culture. DESIGN: Direct evidence of the replication of HIV in endothelial cells is sparse, but clotting abnormalities and thrombi, which suggest the existence of an endothelial dysfunction, have been observed in HIV-infected patients. We therefore studied the storage and release of endothelial-specific factors in primary cultures of liver endothelial cells infected with HIV, as well as their cytoskeleton, pinocytic and phagocytic properties. METHODS: Intracellular storage of von Willebrand's factor (vWF) was determined by immunofluorescence and computer image analysis. Excretion of vWF, protein S and endothelin-1 was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and radioimmunoassay. Cytoskeletal constituents were studied by light microscopy. The pinocytosis of acetylated low-density lipoproteins and the phagocytosis of latex beads were analysed under light and electron microscopy. RESULTS: The synthesis of vWF is markedly decreased in HIV-infected liver endothelial cells, as is the excretion of endothelin-1. In contrast, the excretion of protein S remains unaffected and the cytoskeletal network appears to be unaltered. Pinocytosis and phagocytosis are preserved. CONCLUSIONS: HIV infection triggers non-lethal functional alterations in cultured human liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, with a selective impairment in the storage and/or the excretion of endothelial-specific factors such as vWF. This functional modulation could play a role in the pathophysiology of HIV-induced disease.

Cells, Cultured

Feline immunodeficiency virus can productively infect cultured endothelial cells from cat brain microvessels.

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) provokes a disease in cats characterized by histopathological lesions similar to those observed in AIDS patients. In order to determine whether endothelial cells from brain microvessels are involved in the central nervous system disease to the same extent as macrophages and microglia, cells were isolated from healthy cat brains, cultured and infected in vitro with the FIV Villefranche IFFA 1/88 strain. The isolated cells displayed typical endothelial cell ultrastructural features and were characterized further by von Willebrand factor-labelling and the binding of specific lectins such as Ulex europaeus lectin on their membrane. They were also able to take up acetylated low density lipoproteins. Two weeks after infection, significant amounts of FIV p24 antigen were detected by indirect immunofluorescence in syncytia and single cells. Concomitantly, the same antigen could be detected in the culture medium of the infected cells by an ELISA technique. Numerous viral particles as well as different steps in the process of viral budding were observed under transmission electron microscopy. The synthesis of FIV p24 antigens still occurred in cells in which replication was blocked in the G2 phase with taxol. Our results suggest the possibility of a productive infection of brain microvascular endothelial cells by FIV in vivo, which could lead to important perturbations in the functions of the blood-brain barrier.

Animals

Multifrequency cross-correlation phase fluorometry of chlorophyll a fluorescence in thylakoid and PSII-enriched membranes.

We present here a comparative study on the decay of chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence yield in thylakoid membranes and photosystem II (PSII)-enriched samples, measured with multifrequency cross-correlation phase fluorometry. These measurements confirm the general conclusions of Van Mieghem et al. (Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1100, 198-206, 1992), obtained with a flash method, on the effects of reduction of the primary quinone acceptor (QA) on Chl a fluorescence yield of PSII. Different states of the reaction centers of PSII were produced by: (1) pretreatment with sodium dithionite and methyl viologen followed by laser illumination: the doubly reduced QA (QAH2) centers; (2) with laser illumination or pretreatment with diuron: QA- centers; and (3) the addition of micromolar concentration of dichlorobenzoquinone (DCBQ): oxidized QA centers. The data were analyzed with Lorentzian distribution as well as with multiexponential fluorescence decay functions. The analysis with Lorentzian distribution function showed that upon formation of QA-, the major lifetime distribution peak shifted to longer lifetimes: from 0.25 ns to 1.66 ns (pea thylakoid membranes) and from 0.24 ns to 1.31 ns (core PSII). However, when QAH2 was formed, the lifetime distribution peaks shifted back to shorter lifetimes (0.57-0.77 ns) both in thylakoids and PSII membranes. Multiexponential analysis showed three lifetime components: fast (40-400 ps), middle (300-1500 ps) and slow (5-25 ns). When QA- was formed in PSII centers, the amplitude of the fast component decreased, but both the amplitude and the lifetime of the middle component increased severalfold.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chlorophyll

Role of protein--protein interactions in the regulation of transcription by trp repressor investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy.

In the present work, we have characterized the protein--protein interactions in the trp repressor (TR) from Escherichia coli using fluorescence spectroscopy. The steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy of repressor labeled with 5-(dimethylamino)naphthalene-1-sulfonamide (DNS) was used to monitor subunit equilibria in the absence and presence of corepressor. In the absence of tryptophan, the repressor is in equilibrium between tetramers and dimers in the concentration range studied (approximately 0.04-40 microM in dimer). Binding of corepressor resulted in a marked destabilization of the tetramer. The beginning of a dimer-monomer dissociation transition was observed by monitoring the decrease in the intrinsic tryptophan emission energy upon dilution below 0.1 microM in dimer, indicating an upper limit for the dimer-dissociation constant near 1 nM. DNA titrations with a 26 base pair sequence containing the trp EDCBA operator performed in the absence and presence of the corepressor are consistent with a 1:1 dimer/operator stoichiometry in the presence of tryptophan, while the aporepressor binds with TR dimer/DNA stoichiometries greater than one and which depend upon both the concentration of protein and that of the operator. Using the multiple observable parameters available in fluorescence, we have thus carried out a thorough investigation of the coupled equilibria in this bacterial repressor. Our results are consistent with a physiologically relevant thermodynamic role for tetramerization in the regulatory function of the trp repressor. The present results which have brought to light novel protein--protein interactions in the trp repressor system indicate that fluorescence spectroscopic methods could prove quite useful in the study of the role of protein--protein interactions in eukaryotic systems as well.

Base Sequence

Primary cultures of endothelial cells from the human liver sinusoid are permissive for human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

Human endothelial cells isolated from hepatic sinusoids were infected in vitro with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). An early sign of infection occurring in the culture was the formation of multinucleated cells. By double-labeling immunofluorescence, 5-15% of the cells recognized as endothelial cells owing to the presence of von Willebrand factor were found to contain HIV p24 and gp120 antigens after 2 weeks. Reverse transcriptase activity was released into the medium, and different steps in the process of viral budding were observed by electron microscopy. The virus produced by the endothelial cells was found to be infectious for CEM cells, a human T-cell line. CD4 molecules are present at the surface of the endothelial cells, as demonstrated by immunogold-silver staining and backscattered electron imaging. Treatment with an anti-CD4 antibody abolished productive infection of the sinusoidal endothelial cells. The possibility that endothelial cells of the liver sinusoid are infected in vivo with HIV remains to be clearly shown.

CD4 Antigens

Phagocytosis of nanoparticles by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected macrophages: a possibility for antiviral drug targeting.

Human monocytes/macrophages (MO/MAC) were isolated from peripheral blood and cultivated on hydrophobic Teflon membranes. This culture system is suitable for HIV infection of MO/MAC in vitro. After transfer into 24-well plates the mature macrophages (infected or uninfected) were used for measurements of phagocytosis. The uptake of different, radioactively labeled nanoparticles (NP) made of polyalkylcyanoacrylate, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), and human serum albumin (HSA) by the macrophages was determined. In addition, the influence on phagocytosis of size and composition, concentration, and surface of the NP was studied. Further, macrophages of different state of activation were tested. NP made of polyhexylcyanoacrylate (PHCA) or human serum albumin with a diameter of about 200 nm were found most useful for targeting antiviral substances such as azidotymidine to macrophages. Cells infected in vitro with HIV-1D117/III, a monocytotropic HIV isolate from a perinatally infected child, possessed an even higher phagocytotic activity than noninfected cells. Macrophages isolated from HIV-infected patients also showed good incorporation of NP. Thus, the concept of a specific targeting of antiviral substances to macrophages in HIV-infected individuals appears quite promising.

Antiviral Agents

Permissivity of primary cultures of human Kupffer cells for HIV-1.

Kupffer cells (liver macrophages) represent the largest reservoir of fixed macrophages in the body. Accordingly, we have undertaken a study to evaluate their susceptibility to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Five-day-old primary cultures of Kupffer cells (KC) were infected with HIV-1, and as the infection progressed, syncytia appeared. Within the cells, viral proteins were detected by immunofluorescence using monoclonal antibodies directed against gp120 and p24. Electron microscopic examinations revealed the presence of typical Lentivirinae particles. The particles released from KC in the extracellular medium showed reverse transcriptase activity and p24 antigen; they could infect lymphocytic cells and were neutralized by a HIV+ patient's serum or an anti-gp120 monoclonal antibody. Our results thus demonstrate that the interaction of HIV-1 with KC in vitro leads to a productive infection. They suggest that the KC may be involved in the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection and may (i) participate in the transmission of the infection to the peripheral blood cells, (ii) play a role in the depletion of uninfected CD4+ cells.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Functional and metabolic activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes from patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome: results of a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study on the activity of prostaglandin E1.

Indirect and experimental evidence suggests that polymorphonuclear leukocytes, responding to an activating signal presumably related to the complement cascade activation, are involved in the pathogenesis of the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The pathologic changes seem to be result of the polymorphonuclear leukocyte margination within the pulmonary capillary vessels and their activation with subsequent release of vasoactive peptides (thromboxane A2, prostaglandin E2) and toxic intracellular compounds. This study confirms that adherence, chemotaxis, and chemiluminescence are increased in polymorphonuclear leukocytes from patients with ARDS. Enhanced chemotactic and chemiluminescence capacities are likely specific to ARDS, whereas increased polymorphonuclear leukocyte adherence seems to be nonspecific. If increased polymorphonuclear leukocyte activation is important in the pathogenesis of ARDS, the inhibition of this phenomenon could play a therapeutic role. This double-blind prospective study was undertaken to assess if polymorphonuclear leukocyte activity is inhibited in vivo by the iv administration of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) in patients with ARDS. A continuous infusion of PGE1 at a dose of 30 ng.kg-1.min-1 for 7 days did not modify the functional activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in patients with ARDS. Because hemodynamic instability was seen during infusion of this dose of PGE1, an increased dose was not tested. At the dose of PGE1 tested, no significant effect upon the function activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in patients with ARDS could be demonstrated.

Adult

Mouse cells surviving polyoma virus infection generally retain the whole viral genome.

Permissive mouse 3T6 cells were exposed to polyoma virus--either wild-type or early mutant--at high multiplicities of infection. From colonies arising from surviving cells, so-called lines and clones were derived under conditions precluding superinfection. These lines and clones were examined for the presence of viral genetic information, using a variety of techniques. Two salient findings were made: most lines or clones analyzed had retained viral genetic material; generally, this material was nondefective, as evidenced by the production of virus and/or viral DNA molecules of genomic size. These findings indicate that mouse cells can survive for many generations while carrying a complete, infectious, and potentially cytocidal polyoma virus genome.

Animals

Multiplication of human immunodeficiency virus in primary cultures of human Kupffer cells--possible role of liver macrophage infection in the physiopathology of AIDS.

In primary cultures of Kupffer cells obtained from surgical biopsies of human liver by collagenase perfusion followed by centrifugal elutriation and infected with HIV, the virus multiplied abundantly, as attested by the appearance of a reverse transcriptase activity in the medium. Examined by electron microscopy, the cells were found to contain viral particles with typical features of Lentivirinae. Furthermore, the virus could be revealed by immunofluorescence using an HIV+ patient serum. HIV antibodies also neutralized the infectivity of the Kupffer cell-produced virus. Our results demonstrate that the cells constituting the largest fraction of fixed macrophages in the body may be infected by HIV, thereby suggesting that the Kupffer cells may play a role in the physiopathology of the disease, namely as a reservoir for the virus.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Morphine stimulates HIV replication in primary cultures of human Kupffer cells.

Intravenous drug abusers represent a high risk group for HIV infection in Europe and North America. Although the use of blood-contaminated needles undoubtedly constitutes the main factor of transmission of the virus, an effect of the drug itself either on the immune system or on virus replication, thus favouring the initiation of the infection, may not be excluded. We have formerly established that primary cultures of human Kupffer cells (KC) are permissive for HIV1. In this paper, we describe the effect of morphine hydrochloride on the multiplication of different isolates of HIV1 in cultured human KC. KC were obtained by dissociation of human liver fragments with collagenase and purified by centrifugal elutriation. Five-day-old KC were infected with HIV1; at different intervals, the production of virus was quantitated by the reverse transcriptase activity associated with the particles present in the culture medium. In primary cultures of KC preincubated for 48 h and maintained in the presence of morphine, the production of viral particles was increased. This enhancing effect was found with 3 different HIV1 isolates. Treatment of KC with morphine prior to infection was not required for the stimulation to take place, which indicated that the enhancing effect was not related to a more efficient adsorption of the virus to the KC plasma membrane. Stimulation of HIV1 production was observed for all the concentrations of morphine used (0.05 to 0.5 mg/ml). These results, if confirmed in vivo, may shed new light on the risk factors related to the intravenous administration of heroin.

Cells, Cultured