The search for a T cell line for testing novel antiviral strategies against HIV-1 isolates of diverse receptor tropism and subtype origin

The world-wide HIV epidemic is characterized by increasing genetic diversity with multiple viral subtypes, circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) and unique recombinant forms (URFs). Antiretroviral drug design and basic virology studies have largely focused on HIV-1 subtype B. There have been few direct comparisons by subtype, perhaps due to the lack of uniform and standardized culture systems for the in vitro propagation of diverse HIV-1 subtypes. Although peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are major targets and reservoirs of HIV, PBMCs culturing is relatively difficult and not always reproducible. In addition, long-term experiments cannot be performed because PBMCs are short-lived cells. We faced these problems during the in vitro testing of an experimental RNA interference (RNAi) based gene therapy. Therefore, many T cell lines that support HIV-1 infection were tested and compared for replication of HIV-1 isolates, including viruses that use different receptors and diverse subtypes. The PM1 T cell line was comparable to PBMCs for culturing of any of the HIV-1 strains and subtypes. The advantage of PM1 cells in long-term cultures for testing the safety and efficacy of an RNAi-based gene therapy was demonstrated. PM1 may thus provide a valuable research tool for studying new anti-HIV therapies.