Ability of small animal cells to support the postintegration phase of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 replication

We examine the potential for a broad range of small animal cells, including rodent, mink, and avian cells, from multiple tissues to support postintegration steps of HIV-1 replication. These cells were engineered so as to support a stable expression of human cyclin T1 and were further transduced with HIV-1 gag and pol genes. Viral gene expression was activated by the presence of human cyclin T1, but, with the exception of mink cells, was not at the level seen in human cells. Furthermore, there were considerable defects in p24 CA release, in particular in the case of rodent cells. Fractionation of Gag proteins by sucrose floatation revealed that the Gag in human cells trafficked to membrane fractions and was processed to p24 CA and p17 MA efficiently. Confocal imaging demonstrated that Gag was localized in a punctate pattern at the plasma membrane as well as intracellular membrane trans-Golgi cisternae in these cells. In contrast, the majority of Gag in rodent cells was largely present in cytosolic complexes and remained unprocessed. Labeling with [9,10(n)-(3)H]myristic acid showed a similar degree of N-myristoylated Pr55(gag) in rodent and human cells, indicating that while N-myristoylation of Gag was essential for membrane binding, it was not sufficient to confer membrane targeting specificity. Remarkably, despite the reduced level of intracellular Gag processing, mink Mv.1.Lu cells did not appear to differ significantly from human cells in support of virion assembly and release. Analysis of reciprocal heterokaryons suggested that the cellular factor(s) required for efficient assembly and release of infectious virions is lacking in murine cells but appears to be functionally present in mink as well as human cells. Our findings confirm and extend previous reports of multiple blocks to HIV replication in nonhuman cells that are most profound in murine cells. They also raise the possibility that other small animals, such as mink, could serve as novel model systems for studying HIV-1 infection and disease.