RNA levels of human retrovirus receptors Pit1 and Pit2 do not correlate with infectibility by three retroviral vector pseudotypes

Abstract

The gibbon ape leukemia virus (GaLV) and the amphotropic murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV) infect human cells via specific receptors, Pit1 and Pit2, respectively. mRNA levels of these receptors were determined by Northern analysis and for Pit2 in addition by quantitative RT-PCR. Pit1 and Pit2 were expressed in different amounts in human tissues and cell lines; Pit1-specific mRNA was generally more abundant than Pit2 mRNA. No correlation was found between Pit1 and Pit2 RNA levels and infectibility by GaLV and A-MuLV pseudotyped vectors, respectively. GaLV and A-MuLV revealed a partial reciprocal interference. MuLV-10A1 can utilize both Pit1 and Pit2 for entry into cells but could not infect any of the 14 human cell lines more efficiently than A-MuLV or GaLV. Interference assays suggested that MuLV-10A1 has a higher affinity for and infected most cells predominantly by Pit2. However, at least in one cell line it used Pit1 more efficiently for entry. We conclude that (1) Pit1 and Pit2 mRNA levels in human cells are not indicative of the infectibility by GaLV and A-MuLV pseudotypes, respectively; (2) A-MuLV can infect target cells as efficiently as can GaLV, although Pit2 RNA is less abundant than Pit1 RNA; (3) factor(s) in addition to the presence of Pit1 and Pit2 are involved in retroviral infection; and (4) MuLV-10A1 pseudotype does not infect human cells more efficiently than do A-MuLV and GaLV pseudotypes.