Recombinant human parvovirus B19 vectors: erythrocyte P antigen is necessary but not sufficient for successful transduction of human hematopoietic cells.

The blood group P antigen, known to be abundantly expressed on erythroid cells, has been reported to be the cellular receptor for parvovirus B19. We have described the development of recombinant parvovirus B19 vectors with which high-efficiency, erythroid lineage-restricted transduction can be achieved (S. Ponnazhagan, K. A. Weigel, S. P. Raikwar, P. Mukherjee, M. C. Yoder, and A. Srivastava, J. Virol. 72:5224-5230, 1998). However, since a low-level transduction of nonerythroid cells could also be detected and since P antigen is expressed in nonerythroid cells, we reevaluated the role of P antigen in the viral binding and entry into cells. Cell surface expression analyses revealed that approximately 75% of primary human bone marrow mononuclear erythroid cells and approximately 31% of cells in the nonerythroid population were positive for P antigen. Two human erythroleukemia cell lines, HEL and K562, and a human promyelocytic leukemia cell line, HL-60, were also examined for P antigen expression and binding and entry of the vector. HEL and K562 cells showed intermediate levels, whereas HL-60 cells demonstrated high levels of expression of P antigen. However, the efficiency of vector binding to these cells did not correlate with P antigen expression. Moreover, despite P antigen positivity and efficient viral binding, HEL, K562, and HL-60 cells could not be transduced with the vector. Low levels of P antigen expression could also be detected in two primary cell types, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and normal human lung fibroblasts (NHLF). In addition, vector binding occurred in both cell types and was inhibited by globoside, indicating the involvement of P antigen in virus binding to these cells. These primary cells could be efficiently transduced with the recombinant vector. These data suggest that (i) P antigen is expressed on a variety of cell types and is involved in binding of parvovirus B19 to human cells, (ii) the level of P antigen expression does not correlate with the efficiency of viral binding, (iii) P antigen is necessary but not sufficient for parvovirus B19 entry into cells, and (iv) parvovirus B19 vectors can be used to transduce HUVEC and NHLF. These studies further suggest the existence of a putative cellular coreceptor for efficient entry of parvovirus B19 into human cells.