Wu Zhiwei, Chen Zhiwei, Phillips David M
Department of Biochemistry, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA.
J Infect Dis. 2003 Nov 15;188(10):1473-82. doi: 10.1086/379248. Epub 2003 Oct 31.
Sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) accounts for the majority of new infections worldwide. However, the mechanism of viral transmission across the mucosal barrier is poorly understood. By use of an ectocervical epithelium-derived cell line, we found that the cells are capable of sequestering large amounts of HIV particles but are refractory to cell-free viral infection. The sequestered virus particles remained infectious for >/=6 days and resisted treatment with trypsin. Upon coculture with CD4(+)-susceptible cells, epithelial cells can effectively transmit the virus to these cells, which can result in robust infection of the target cells. Inhibitory studies have shown that heparan sulfate moiety of cell-surface proteoglycans is involved in the viral attachment to these CD4-negative epithelial cells. Genital epithelial cells may play active roles in sequestering, protecting, and transferring virus during sexual transmission of HIV.
人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）的性传播占全球新感染病例的大部分。然而，病毒跨黏膜屏障传播的机制尚不清楚。通过使用源自宫颈上皮的细胞系，我们发现这些细胞能够隔离大量HIV颗粒，但对无细胞病毒感染具有抗性。隔离的病毒颗粒在≥6天内仍具感染性，并且能抵抗胰蛋白酶处理。与CD4（+）敏感细胞共培养时，上皮细胞可有效地将病毒传播给这些细胞，从而导致靶细胞的强烈感染。抑制性研究表明，细胞表面蛋白聚糖的硫酸乙酰肝素部分参与病毒附着于这些CD4阴性上皮细胞。在HIV性传播过程中，生殖上皮细胞可能在隔离、保护和转移病毒方面发挥积极作用。
