Potential cellular signatures of viral infections in human hematopoietic cells

Expression profiling of cellular genes was performed using a 10,000 cDNA human gene array in order to identify expression changes following chronic infection of human hematopoietic cells with Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Virus (KSHV) also known as Human Herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) and Human T cell leukemia virus-1 (HTLV-1). We performed cell-free in vitro infection of primary bone marrow derived CD34+ cells using semi-purified HHV8 and a mature IL-2 dependent T cell line, KIT 225, using highly concentrated viral stocks prepared from an infectious molecular clone of HTLV-1. Thirty days post infection, mRNA was isolated from infected cultures and uninfected controls and submitted for microarray analysis. More than 400 genes were differentially expressed more than two-fold following HHV8 infection of primary bone marrow derived CD34+ cells. Of these 400, interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4), cyclin B2, TBP-associated factor, eukaryotic elongation factor and pim 2 were up-regulated more than 3.5 fold. In contrast, less than 100 genes were differentially expressed more than two-fold following chronic infection of a mature T cell line with HTLV-1. Of these, only cdc7 was up-regulated more than 3.5 fold. These data may provide insight into cellular signatures of infection useful for diagnosis of infection as well as potential targets for therapeutic intervention.