Characterization of human T-lymphotropic virus type I- and II-infected T-cell lines: antigenic, phenotypic, and genotypic analysis.

Eighteen long-term T-cell lines were established from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of individuals infected with human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) or II (HTLV-II). These cell lines (10 HTLV-I and 8 HTLV-II), representing diverse pathologic profiles and geographic regions, have been in culture for over 6 months and have constitutively produced p24gag antigen. Antigenic characterization of the cell lines by Western blot analysis demonstrated that all but one produced gag (p24) and env (gp46 or gp52) structural proteins; one HTLV-I-infected cell line exhibited an aberrant protein profile. Phenotypic analysis of the HTLV-infected cell lines demonstrated phenotypes consistent with activated T-cells (CD5+, CD25+, HLA-DR+). The HTLV-I-infected cell lines were predominantly CD4+ (IR, FS, A212, SP, 1657, 1742, 3669, 1996, and 3614), whereas EG was CD8+. The HTLV-II-infected cell lines were either CD4+ (H2A, Y17, G12.1), CD8+ (H1H, H2E, Y03, Y06), or both (H1B). Restriction map analysis and subtyping of the viral genomes demonstrated heterogeneity among these isolates. Of the HTLV-I-infected cell lines, six were subtype II, one was subtype III and, on the basis of additional restriction sites, another subtype, tentatively classified as subtype IV, could be identified for three of the HTLV-I-infected cell lines. Of the HTLV-II-infected cell lines, six were subtype HTLV-IIa and two were subtype HTLV-IIb. While the majority of the cell lines resemble the prototypic HTLV-I-infected (MT-2) and HTLV-II-infected (MoT) cell lines, the antigenic, phenotypic, and genotypic data collectively demonstrate heterogeneity among viral isolates representing diverse geographic regions.