Abstract
Platelets express several surface receptors that could interact with different viruses. To understand the mechanisms of HIV-1′s interaction with platelets, we chose the EcoHIV model. While EcoHIV is an established model for neuroAIDS, its effects on platelets are ill-defined. Our results indicate that EcoHIV behaves differently from HIV-1 and is cleared from circulation after 48 h post- infection. The EcoHIV course of infection resembles an HIV-1 infection under the effects of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) since infected mice stayed immunocompetent and the virus was readily detected in the spleen. EcoHIV-infected mice failed to become thrombocytopenic and showed no signs of platelet activation. One explanation is that mouse platelets lack the EcoHIV receptor, murine Cationic Amino acid Transporter-1 (mCAT-1). No mCAT-1 was detected on their surface, nor was any mCAT-1 mRNA detected. Thus, mouse platelets would not bind or become activated by EcoHIV. However, impure virus preparations, generated by Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) precipitation, do activate platelets, suggesting that nonspecific PEG-precipitates may contain other platelet activators (e.g., histones and cell debris). Our data do not support the concept that platelets, through general surface proteins such as DC-SIGN or CLEC-2, have a wide recognition for different viruses and suggest that direct platelet/pathogen interactions are receptor/ligand specific.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2023
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3390/v16010055
Funding Information
This work is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (HL56652, HL138179, and HL150818 to S.W.W.).
Repository Citation
Alfar, Hammodah Rawhi Hammodah; Nthenge-Ngumbau, Dominic Ngima; Saatman, Kathryn E.; and Whiteheart, Sidney W., "EcoHIV-Infected Mice Show No Signs of Platelet Activation" (2023). Saha Cardiovascular Research Center Faculty Publications. 79.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cvrc_facpub/79
Included in
Cardiology Commons, Circulatory and Respiratory Physiology Commons, Infectious Disease Commons, Virology Commons
Notes/Citation Information
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).