Complement and antibody mediate enhancement of HIV infection by increasing virus binding and provirus formation.

Previous studies have shown that infection of complement receptor (CR2)-bearing cells with HIV pretreated with antibody (Ab) plus complement (C) resulted in increased virus expression. The current study was designed to determine whether C-mediated 'enhancement' of HIV-1 production was the result of increased virus infection of cells as assessed by provirus formation and virus binding. Virus was incubated with anti-HIV Ab and/or C and added to CR2-positive MT-2 cells. Increased virus expression by MT-2 cells correlated with increased numbers of HIV-immunofluorescent-positive cells at 24 and 48 h and higher levels of provirus detected 8-28 h after infection. MT-2 cells also bound threefold more Ab-plus-C-treated virus than untreated virus. Serial dilutions of C showed that high levels of C with Ab did not enhance but rather suppressed virus expression. Studies were also performed which showed that terminal C components C5 and C8 were not necessary for the enhancing effect. The increased binding of C-coated HIV to CR-positive cells has important implications for the fate of virus in vivo.