Cell surface phenotypic changes induced in H9 T cells chronically infected with HTLV type I or HIV type 1 or coinfected with the two viruses.

To investigate whether HTLV-I infection, HIV-I infection, or HIV-I infection of HTLV-I-infected cells affect the expression of cellular surface molecules, an HTLV-I-infected T cell line derived from the H9 T cell line was established (H36). H9 cells uninfected or infected with HTLV-I were then infected with HIV-1. We have compared the density of different surface markers on these three infected H9 T cell lines. These markers consist of T cell-specific antigens (CD2, CD3, CD4, and CD8), activated T cell antigens (CD25 and CD71), major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens (class I and II), and adhesion molecules (LFA-1 and ICAM-1). The experiments reported in this article show that chronic HTLV-I infection, HIV-1 infection, and HIV-1 infection of HTLV-I-infected T cells modulate the expression of several immunologically important cell surface antigens. The nature and the extent of T lymphoid cell phenotypic modulation depend on the infecting virus. Furthermore, HTLV-I and HIV-1 interact with each other in the phenotypic modulation of coinfected cells.