A one-step RT-PCR and a flow cytometry method as two specific tools for direct evaluation of human herpesvirus-6 replication.

In order to confirm the occurrence of active Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) infection, two optimal procedures were developed to detect directly replicating virus. MT4 cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) infected with two different strains (HST and a patient strain GUI) were used. The first method consisted of a one-step reverse transcription PCR amplifying a part of the late alternatively spliced U100 gene which encode the gp 82-105 viral glycoprotein. Two extraction methods and two RT-PCR kits were evaluated, leading to the selection of TaKaRa mRNA selective PCR kit. The second procedure consisted in a flow cytometry method to analyze the expression of two late viral HHV-6 antigens using 7C7 and 10G6 monoclonal antibodies. Four fixation permeabilization procedures were compared and the preparation of cells with paraformaldehyde (PFA) 4% was found to be optimal. Evaluation of these methods was then realized during a sequential culture of HST strain on MT4 cells. This kinetic study confirmed that Mabs recognized late antigens and demonstrate that the U100 gene splicing starts at a late stage of multiplication whereas unspliced forms are detectable earlier in the cycle.