Mickaël M Ménager1, Dan R Littman1,2. 1. The Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine of the Skirball Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA. 2. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Washington, USA.
Abstract
The aim of this protocol is to describe how to measure and quantify the amount of HIV-1 particles and dextran molecules internalized in human monocyte derived dendritic cells (MDDCs), using three different techniques: flow cytometry, quantitative PCR and confocal microscopy. BACKGROUND: This protocol was developed in order to assess the changes of HIV-1 internalization upon disruption of actin nucleation in human monocyte derived dendritic cells. Following a shRNA screen to identify genes important for HIV-1 transfer from dendritic cells to T cells, we observed that a disruption of actin nucleation leads to a switch from actin rich dendrites to blebs, due to an excess of actomyosin contraction. As a consequence, a decrease of HIV-1 transfer and an increase of HIV-1 internalization due to bleb retraction-driven macropinocytosis were observed. We concluded that effectors of actin nucleation and stabilization were key to maintain HIV-1 on actin-rich dendrites and to limit its endocytosis, for efficient transfer to T lymphocytes (Menager and Littman, 2016).
The aim of this protocol is to describe how to measure and quantify the amount of HIV-1 particles and dextran molecules internalized in human monocyte derived dendritic cells (MDDCs), using three different techniques: flow cytometry, quantitative PCR and confocal microscopy. BACKGROUND: This protocol was developed in order to assess the changes of HIV-1 internalization upon disruption of actin nucleation in human monocyte derived dendritic cells. Following a shRNA screen to identify genes important for HIV-1 transfer from dendritic cells to T cells, we observed that a disruption of actin nucleation leads to a switch from actin rich dendrites to blebs, due to an excess of actomyosin contraction. As a consequence, a decrease of HIV-1 transfer and an increase of HIV-1 internalization due to bleb retraction-driven macropinocytosis were observed. We concluded that effectors of actin nucleation and stabilization were key to maintain HIV-1 on actin-rich dendrites and to limit its endocytosis, for efficient transfer to T lymphocytes (Menager and Littman, 2016).
Authors: Wolfgang Hübner; Ping Chen; Armando Del Portillo; Yuxin Liu; Ronald E Gordon; Benjamin K Chen Journal: J Virol Date: 2007-08-29 Impact factor: 5.103