Elevated osteonectin/SPARC expression in primary prostate cancer predicts metastatic progression.

BACKGROUND: The majority of prostate cancers (CaP) are detected in early stages with uncertain prognosis. Therefore, an intensive effort is underway to define early predictive markers of CaP with aggressive progression characteristics. METHODS: In order to define such prognostic markers, we performed comparative analyses of transcriptomes of well- and poorly differentiated (PD) tumor cells from primary tumors of patients (N=40) with 78 months of mean follow-up after radical prostatectomy. Validation experiments were carried out at transcript level by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) (N=110) and at protein level by immunohistochemistry (N=53) in primary tumors from an independent patient cohort. RESULTS: Association of a biochemical network of 12 genes with SPARC gene as a central node was highlighted with PD phenotype. Of note, there was remarkable enrichment of NKXH_NKXH_HOX composite regulatory elements in the promoter of the genes in this network suggesting a biological significance of this gene-expression regulatory mechanism in CaP progression. Further, quantitative expression analyses of SPARC mRNA in primary prostate tumor cells of 110 patients validated the association of SPARC expression with poor differentiation and higher Gleason score. Most significantly, higher SPARC protein expression at the time of prostatectomy was associated with the subsequent development of metastasis (P=0.0006, AUC=0.803). CONCLUSIONS: In summary, we propose that evaluation of SPARC in primary CaP has potential as a prognostic marker of metastatic progression.

Drug resistance patterns, genetic subtypes, clinical features, and risk factors in military personnel with HIV-1 seroconversion.

BACKGROUND: Regular testing of military personnel identifies early HIV infection; this identification provides a sentinel cohort in which to describe the evolving molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 transmission. OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence and epidemiologic correlates associated with the acquisition of non-subtype B and drug-resistant HIV infections. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Military referral hospital. PATIENTS: 95 military personnel with HIV-1 seroconversion. MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported questionnaire, CD4 cell counts, plasma HIV-1 RNA levels, and nucleic acid sequence analysis for drug-resistant mutations and HIV-1 genetic subtype. RESULTS: 95 patients were enrolled between February 1997 and February 1998. The likely geographic location of HIV-1 acquisition was overseas in 8% of patients, the United States in 68%, and either overseas or the United States in 24%. Seven patients (7.4%) had subtype E infection; the remainder had subtype B infection. Eight of 31 (26%) treatment-naive patients had mutations in the reverse transcriptase or protease gene associated with drug resistance. CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of HIV-1 non-subtype B infection and antiretroviral drug-resistant mutations was relatively high in U.S. military personnel with recently acquired HIV-1 infection.

Inhibition of HIV replication by sense and antisense rev response elements in HIV-based retroviral vectors.

The life cycle of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is critically dependent on the transregulatory proteins Tat and Rev. Tat increases the production of HIV-specific mRNAs by direct binding to the transactivation response (TAR) element located at the 5' end of all HIV transcripts. In contrast, Rev uses a complex RNA stem loop structure, the Rev response element (RRE), which is found in full-length and singly spliced HIV transcripts. Rev is required for the cytoplasmic expression of full-length mRNAs encoding Gag, Pol, and Env structural proteins. The complex intracellular interactions between Tat, Rev, host cell factors, and their respective RNA response elements should be susceptible to interdiction by genetic therapies designed to introduce and express novel genetic information. We show that the expression of antisense RREs inhibited the cytoplasmic expression of RRE containing HIV-1 transcripts. HIV-based retroviral vectors containing either the antisense (-) or sense (+) RREs inhibited HIV replication in transient transfections. The production of full-length HIV mRNA was also decreased significantly by the expression of RREs in either orientation. Interestingly, there was a paradoxic increase in HIV p24 gag production at low levels of inhibitor; this effect may have been the result of encapsidation of RRE-containing HIV-based retroviral vectors. The data suggest that the introduction and inducible expression of RRE-containing, HIV-based retroviral vectors may have therapeutic value in HIV infection.

Antiviral effect and ex vivo CD4+ T cell proliferation in HIV-positive patients as a result of CD28 costimulation.

Because stimulation of CD4+ lymphocytes leads to activation of human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 (HIV-1) replication, viral spread, and cell death, adoptive CD4+ T cell therapy has not been possible. When antigen and CD28 receptors on cultured T cells were stimulated by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to CD3 and CD28 that had been immobilized, there was an increase in the number of polyclonal CD4+ T cells from HIV-infected donors. Activated cells predominantly secreted cytokines associated with T helper cell type 1 function. The HIV-1 viral load declined in the absence of antiretroviral agents. Moreover, CD28 stimulation of CD4+ T cells from uninfected donors rendered these cells highly resistant to HIV-1 infection. Immobilization of CD28 mAb was crucial to the development of HIV resistance, as cells stimulated with soluble CD28 mAb were highly susceptible to HIV infection. The CD28-mediated antiviral effect occurred early in the viral life cycle, before HIV-1 DNA integration. These data may facilitate immune reconstitution and gene therapy approaches in persons with HIV infection.

Quantitative relationship of circulating p24 antigen with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA and specific antibody in HIV-infected subjects receiving antiretroviral therapy. The RV43 Study Group.

To better understand the biologic meaning and potential clinical utility of p24 antigen measurements in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, p24 antigen and antibody and HIV RNA were quantitated in parallel. Specimens (n = 311) were analyzed from 74 participants in a zidovudine treatment study. Parallel antigen and RNA measurements revealed the frequent occurrence of two types of discordant results. First, p24 antigen was often not detected in samples with high antibody levels even when > 10(6) RNA copies/mL were present. Second, in specimens in which p24 antigen was detected, the concentration was greater than expected on the basis of HIV RNA values. These results suggest that optimal use of serum p24 antigen values will require consideration of both specific antibody levels and non-virion associated antigen.

Consequences of stable transduction and antigen-inducible expression of the human interleukin-7 gene on tetanus-toxoid-specific T cells.

Interleukin-7 (IL-7) has previously been shown to increase antigen-specific immune responses; the effect of IL-7 on human antigen-specific T cell lines has not directly been addressed. A tetanus-toxoid (TT)-specific T cell line exhibited increased proliferation in the presence of exogenous IL-7, suggesting that IL-7 may be useful in the potentiation of immune responses to defined microbial antigens. Murine retroviral vectors encoding the human IL-7 gene and the neomycin phosphotransferase gene (neoR) were packaged into murine retroviral particles, and supernatants containing these retroviral vectors were used to infect a CD4+ lymphoblastoid cell line. Stable integration of the retroviral vector and constitutive expression of the IL-7 gene were observed. Successful IL-7 gene transduction into TT-specific T cells was also accomplished. Detection of neoR DNA sequences and expression of IL-7-specific mRNA increased with selection in geneticin. Production of IL-7 in these cells was induced by exposure to TT. Production of IL-4, IL-6, and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was detected after antigenic stimulation; there was, however, no effect of IL-7 on the pattern or kinetics of cytokine production by these cells. Human IL-7 transduced cells showed greater proliferation to TT than control T cells, particularly at subthreshold TT concentrations. These dta imply that genetic modification of antigen-specific T cells may be a plausible strategy for the study and manipulation of the immune responses to microbial pathogens.

Negative-strand RNA transcripts are produced in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected cells and patients by a novel promoter downregulated by Tat.

Current understanding of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transcription is based on unidirectional expression of transcripts with positive-strand polarity from the 5' long terminal repeat. We now report HIV-1 transcripts with negative-strand polarity obtained from acutely and chronically infected cell lines by use of a template orientation-specific reverse transcriptase-PCR assay. These findings were confirmed in natural infection by analysis of RNA derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples from 15 HIV-1-infected patients. A cDNA derived from a 2.3-kb polyadenylated HIV-1 RNA with negative-strand polarity which encodes a highly conserved 189-amino-acid open reading frame antiparallel to the envelope gene was isolated from acutely infected A3.01 cells. Through use of reporter gene constructions, we further found that a novel negative-strand promoter functions within the negative response element of the 3' long terminal repeat, which is downregulated by coexpression of Tat. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments demonstrated that NF-kappa B I and USF sites are crucial for negative-strand promoter activity. These data extend the coding capacity of HIV-1 and suggest a role for antisense regulation of the viral life cycle.

HIV-1 proviral genotypes from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of an infected patient are differentially represented in expressed sequences.

The RNA genome of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is established as proviral DNA in infected cells. Only some of these cells may actively produce the array of viral RNAs that support progeny virion production. In vivo expression of a subset of proviral genotypes could influence the experimental characterization of the viral quasispecies. We have explored the relationship between DNA and cDNA genotypes of the envelope gene by the molecular cloning and nucleotide sequencing of these templates from noncultivated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from an HIV-1-infected patient. Eleven proviral DNA and nine cDNA clones representing the V1-V3 region of gp120 were recovered and sequenced. The proviral group was more heterogeneous than the cDNA group by nucleotide sequence changes and V1 length polymorphisms. Deduced amino acid sequences from this data set showed that the two groups were distinct in primary structure, in the position of N-linked glycosylation sites, and in the net charge of the V3 loop. The V1-V2 region discriminated between the groups more strongly than the V3 region. The differential representation of HIV-1 envelope genotypes in the cDNA versus the proviral compartment may have important implications for the pathogenesis of disease and for the design of antiviral therapeutics.

Consequences of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 superinfection of chronically infected cells.

Infection of T cell lines by the type 1 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) is associated with downregulation of the CD4 receptor and resistance to further HIV-1 infection, the phenomenon of viral interference. The ACH2 cell line, a model for chronic HIV-1 infection, possesses a single integrated copy of the HIV-1 strain LAI, is essentially CD4 negative, and can be induced to make virus by a variety of stimuli. We utilized the known sequence differences between HIVLAI and HIVRF to devise a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) strategy that permits reliable and quantitative discrimination between the two strains. We demonstrate that ACH2 cells can be superinfected by HIVRF at a frequency of 60-300 HIVRF genomes/10(4) ACH2 cells and that the frequency of superinfection appears to increase with time. Reverse transcription of ACH2 mRNA from days 13, 27, and 38 postinfection allowed a similar PCR strategy (RT-PCR) to be used to analyze full-length HIVRF- and HIVLAI-specific transcripts. These data suggested that superinfection of ACH2 with HIVRF results in an increase in expression of both HIVRF and HIVLAI mRNA. From day 13 to day 38 postinfection there was an increase in the relative expression of HIVRF compared with HIVLAI. By day 38, when only 1.1% of HIV DNA sequences were HIVRF derived, roughly 80% of the HIV-specific full-length mRNA was HIVRF in origin, with a concomitant decrease in HIVLAI transcription.

Anoxia induces human immunodeficiency virus expression in infected T cell lines.

The effects of oxygen deprivation, or anoxia, on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) expression in chronically (ACH.2) and acutely (H9/HIV-1-IIIB) infected cell lines was investigated. Temporary cellular anoxia has previously been shown to activate transcription of endogenous type C leukemia virus sequences, resulting in a significant increase in retroviral RNA within the cell (1). Here we report a 15-fold increase in HIV-1-specific RNA in unstimulated ACH.2 T cells within 24 h of anoxia. This induction of RNA is accompanied by an accumulation of intracellular p24 gag protein as well as an increase in envelope protein. Anoxia induces a further increase in total HIV-1 RNA in ACH.2 cells prestimulated to produce virus by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and in H9 T cells acutely infected with HIV-1-IIIB. The induction of RNA in ACH.2 cells appears to be reversible. Anoxic culture for 24 h followed by a 24-h re-oxygenation period results in a return to "resting state" levels of HIV-1 RNA. These data indicate that oxygen tension within the cellular environment modulates HIV-1 expression, providing a model system in which to study the reversible regulation of HIV-1 RNA and viral gene products within the cell.