Biopolymers and cell. 1997; 13 (3): 245 - 249

Permissivness of human embryo liver cells for HIV infection

N. V. Ivanskaya, L. L. Lukash, A. D. Shved, S. L. Rybalko, O. M. Sukhorada, E. M. Zherebtsova, T. O. Ruban, S. V. Podolskaya, O. P. Kukcharenko, T. F. Grytsak, O. V. Maksimenok

We have studied permissivness of embryonic liver cells to HIV-1 infection. The data obtained on primary cultivated cell populations from 25 aborted embryos have shown those liver stem cells could be regarded as a highly permissive for HIV-1 infection and reproduction. The titers of infectious virus and its p24 antigen produced in native cells were substantially higher than that in standard culture of T4-lymphoma cells MT-4. We have not found HIV-resistan1 samples of embryonic liver cells, nevertheless two isolations of cell samples revealed by low permissivness contrary to the majority of cases. We suggest that these primary cells could be used as alternative to established ones, when the use of immortalized transformed cell lines (MT-4 or any other) is not desirable. The hypothesis of blood cell's native resistance to HIV infection is also discussed.