Detection of the cellular membrane proteins on human T cell leukemia virus type I.

The presence of cellular membrane proteins on human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) was examined. ICAM-1 and MHC-IIDR, which were highly expressed on MT-2 cells but not on MOLT-4#8 cells, became detectable on HTLV-I-binding MOLT-4#8 cells. Furthermore, a batch of other cellular molecules including LFA-1, ICAM-1, LFA-3, MHC-I, MHC-IIDR, and CD4 became detectable on HTLV-I-binding BW5147 cells, a mouse T-lymphoma cell line, which were able to adsorb HTLV-I. The detectable levels of these molecules were correlated with those expressed on MT-2 cells. The detectable levels of the cellular proteins of human decreased by pretreatment of HTLV-I with sera from HTLV-I seropositive individuals but not from seronegatives. These results indicate that HTLV-I envelope carries cellular membrane proteins derived from the host cell.