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A Restriction Enzyme Based Cloning Method to Assess the In vitro Replication Capacity of HIV-1 Subtype C Gag-MJ4 Chimeric Viruses
Published on: August 31, 2014
Short communication: HIV type 1 escapes inactivation by saliva via rapid escape into oral epithelial cells
Elizabeth A Dietrich1, Kristin H Gebhard, Claudine E Fasching
1University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Abstract:
Saliva contains anti-HIV-1 factors, which show unclear efficacy in thwarting mucosal infection. When incubated in fresh, unfractionated whole saliva, infectious HIV-1 IIIb and BaL (X4- and R5-tropic, respectively) persisted from 4 to at least 30 min in a saliva concentration-dependent manner. In salivary supernatant for up to 6 h, both infectious HIV-1 strains "escaped" into immortalized oral epithelial cells; infectious BaL showed selectively enhanced escape in the presence of saliva. Fluorescently labeled HIV-1 virus-like particles entered oral epithelial cells within minutes of exposure. Using a previously unrecognized mechanism, therefore, strains of HIV-1 escape inactivation by saliva via rapid uptake into oral epithelial cells.
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