The infectious molecular clone and pseudotyped virus models of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 exhibit

Nicholas M Provine1, Wendy Blay Puryear, Xueling Wu

  • 1Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.

Journal of Virology
|June 19, 2009
PubMed

Two frequently employed methods for generating well-characterized, genetically defined infectious human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in vitro include the use of infectious molecular clones (IMCs) and pseudoviruses (PVs) competent for single-round infection. We compared six matched pairs of IMCs and PVs. The relative amounts of Env incorporated and efficiency of cleavage differed substantially between the two systems. Altering the ratio of proviral genome and env expression plasmids can produce pseudovirions that are structurally more similar to the matched IMCs. Differences in Env incorporation and cleavage translated into moderate differences in assays infectivity and sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies and entry inhibitors.