Coreceptor usage of sequential isolates from cynomolgus monkeys experimentally Infected with simian immunodeficiency...

Sequential isolates from eight cynomolgus monkeys experimentally infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVsm, of sooty mangabey origin) were tested for coreceptor use in the human osteosarcoma indicator cell line, GHOST(3), expressing CD4 and one or another of the chemokine receptors CCR3, CCR5, CXCR4, BOB, or the orphan receptor Bonzo. The indicator cell line carries the human immunodeficiency virus type 2 long terminal repeat-driven green fluorescence protein gene that becomes activated upon infection with HIV or SIV and fluorescence can be quantitated by flow cytometric analysis. The methodological details are described in the accompanying paper (Vödrös et al., 2001, Virology 290, in press). All SIVsm inoculum viruses and reisolates used CCR5 with a high level of efficiency. CCR5 use was stable over time. BOB and Bonzo use was less efficient than CCR5 use and, in particular, late isolates obtained at the time of immunodeficiency varied greatly in their coreceptor use and often could not establish a productive infection in BOB- or Bonzo-expressing cells. Unexpectedly, early reisolates obtained 12 days postinfection could infect the entire GHOST(3) panel including the parental cells. In one case this was due to use of CXCR4, either transfected or endogenously expressed on the GHOST(3) cells. Our results demonstrate the complex coreceptor use of SIVsm isolates. Moreover, they focus attention on the initial phase of virus replication when the availability of target cells may govern the replication pattern of the virus.