Inhibition of protein kinase C results in decreased expression of bovine leukemia virus.

The in vitro expression of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) in short-term cultured bovine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) is associated with increased spontaneous lymphocyte blastogenesis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether intracellular pathways responsible for antigen- or mitogen-induced lymphocyte blastogenesis were also responsible for induction of BLV expression. The protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor 1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-3-methylpiperazine dihydrochloride (3-methyl H7) decreased blastogenesis in a dose-dependent manner, as measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation, in unstimulated, lipopolysaccharide-stimulated and phorbol ester (PMA)-stimulated BLV-infected PBMC. Similarly, 3-methyl H7 decreased BLV expression, as measured by production of gp51 envelope antigen or p24gag antigen, in BLV-infected PBMC under the same conditions. Using an RNase protection assay, the inhibition of BLV expression by 3-methyl H7 was shown to be due to decreased transcriptional activity. The cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitor N-(2-guanidinoethyl)-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide (HA1004) did not inhibit either BLV expression or blastogenesis of BLV-infected bovine PBMC. Additional evidence for the PKC-dependent expression of BLV was obtained by using a persistently BLV-infected B-lymphocyte cell line, NBC-13. Activation of PKC by PMA in NBC-13 cells increased BLV expression. 3-methyl H7 decreased the PMA-induced expression of BLV in NBC-13 cells in a dose-dependent manner, whereas HA1004 did not inhibit this expression. These results identify a mechanism for the induction of BLV expression through PKC activation and therefore indicate that latency and replication of BLV is controlled by normal B-lymphocyte intracellular signaling pathways.

Infectious transmission of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type II in rabbits.

To determine the susceptibility of rabbits to experimental infection with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-II (HTLV-II), four separate groups of four weanling rabbits each were inoculated intravenously with lethally irradiated HTLV-II-infected human cell lines Mo-T (HTLV-IIMo-infected T cells), WIL-NRA (an Epstein-Barr virus [EBV]-transformed B-lymphoblastoid cell line infected with HTLV-IINRA), 729pH6neo (an EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell line transfected with a molecular clone of HTLV-IIMo), or G12.1 (HTLV-II-infected T cells from a Panamanian Guaymi Indian). Two additional groups of four rabbits each were similarly inoculated with control uninfected 729 or HuT 78 cells. Early and persistent seroconversion to HTLV-II core antigen p24, as determined by Western immunoblot, occurred in all HTLV-II-inoculated rabbits and was most intense in rabbits inoculated with G12.1 cells; seroreactivity to other HTLV-II gag or env antigens occurred later, with less intensity, or not in all inoculated rabbits. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and other lymphoid cells from HTLV-II-inoculated rabbits produced minimal p24 in vitro, as determined by enzyme immunosorbent capture assay. Virus was more readily detected by polymerase chain reaction amplification of HTLV-II pol sequences; this occurred most frequently in rabbits inoculated with Mo-T cells, and most frequently in PBMC as compared with other tissues tested (bone marrow, brain, and liver). No evidence of disease occurred in HTLV-II-inoculated rabbits observed for as long as 24 weeks. All control rabbits remained negative for evidence of HTLV-II infection, as determined by the same procedures. These results provide the first evidence of HTLV-II infection in a species other than humans, and demonstrate the usefulness of the rabbit as an animal model to study the biologic response to different isolates of this human retrovirus.