Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Blanco, Julià
• Barretina, Jordi
• Ferri, Karine F.
• Jacotot, Etienne
• Gutiérrez, Arantxa
• Armand-Ugón, Mercedes
• Cabrera, Cecilia
• Kroemer, Guido
• Clotet, Bonaventura
• Esté, José A.

Titel

Cell-Surface-Expressed HIV-1 Envelope Induces the Death of CD4 T Cells during GP41-Mediated Hemifusion-like Events

Ist Teil von

• Virology (New York, N.Y.), 2003-01, Vol.305 (2), p.318-329

Ort / Verlag

United States: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2003

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Access via ScienceDirect (Elsevier)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Cells expressing the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein complex (gp120/gp41, Env) induce the death of target cells either after cell-to-cell fusion or after cell-to-cell contact in a fusion-independent fashion. Here, we demonstrate that Env-induced death of single cells (including primary CD4 T cells) required gp120 and gp41 function. The gp41 peptide C34, which blocked syncytium formation, completely inhibited the death of single target cells by specifically acting on gp41 function. Moreover, Env-induced single cell death was exclusively observed in CD4 cells and was associated with specific gp41-mediated transfer of lipids from the membrane of Env-expressing cells to the target cell but not with detectable cytoplasm mixing (complete fusion). We conclude that after gp120 function, gp41 mediates close cell-to-cell contacts, thereby triggering cell death in single uninfected cells in the absence of detectable cell-to-cell fusion.