Establishment of human glial cell lines chronically infected with the human immunodeficiency virus

Human malignant glioma cells were cotransfected with an infectious molecular clone of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and a selectable drug resistance gene (neo). HIV/neo-positive cell clones were maintained in continuous culture for over 5 months and showed the following characteristics: (i) expression of HIV antigens as detected by indirect immunofluorescence staining in 80-90% of cells; (ii) efficient production of HIV RNA and infectious progeny virus; (iii) minimal cytopathic effects (notably in cell morphology), in contrast to HIV-infected T lymphocytes. These results demonstrate that certain glial cells originating from human brain can support a chronic infection with HIV comparable to that observed in T lymphoid cell lines. The cell lines provide an in vitro model system for studies on the mechanism and biological effects of HIV infection in glial cells, and offer an alternative source of the virus that has not been Adapted to lymphocytes or macrophages.