Effects of HIV-1 infection in vitro on transendothelial migration by monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages

Monocytes constitutively migrate from the bloodstream across the vascular endothelium for systemic immune surveillance and maintenance of macrophage populations. They also perform reverse transendothelial migration (TEM) across the endothelium, which is required for entry of tissue monocytes/macrophages into the lymphatics or back into the bloodstream. We have modeled these processes previously using HUVEC monolayers grown on three-dimensional collagen matrices. The aim of the present study was to determine whether HIV-1 infection of monocytes/macrophages in vitro affects TEM. Purified primary human monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) expressed important TEM proteins such as CD62L, CD18, PECAM-1, CCR2, and CCR8. Purified monocytes underwent efficient forward and reverse TEM across HUVEC, and this function was maintained by MDM after up to 15 days of culture. Monocytes exposed to HIV-1 for 2 days had unaltered forward or reverse TEM. However, HIV-1 infection of MDM for 7 days decreased reverse TEM by an average of 66.5% compared with mock-infected MDM (n=9 independent donors; P=0.004), without affecting forward TEM. Decreased reverse TEM by HIV-infected MDM required viral RT and was not a result of alterations in surface expression of CCR8 or p-glycoprotein or a general impairment in mobility, as assessed by migration toward fMLP. This study indicates that HIV-1 infection of macrophages reduces their capacity to emigrate from the subendothelial extracellular matrix in vitro, which could result in defective cell-mediated immune responses to infections and promote establishment of viral reservoirs of HIV in tissue macrophages in vivo.