Factors associated with satisfaction with community-based non-medicalized counseling and testing using HIV rapid tests among MSM in France.

The aims of the study were to determine the level of satisfaction of men who have sex with men (MSM) participating in two community-based non-medicalized counseling and testing programs (ANRS-DRAG and ANRS-COM'TEST) offering HIV rapid tests (hereafter CBOffer), and to identify factors associated with satisfaction. Between 2009 and 2011, 436 participants voluntarily benefited from a CBOffer in the two programs. They completed self-administered questionnaires before and after testing.

The 1.2-megabase genome sequence of Mimivirus.

We recently reported the discovery and preliminary characterization of Mimivirus, the largest known virus, with a 400-nanometer particle size comparable to mycoplasma. Mimivirus is a double-stranded DNA virus growing in amoebae. We now present its 1,181,404-base pair genome sequence, consisting of 1262 putative open reading frames, 10% of which exhibit a similarity to proteins of known functions.

HIV-1 gag polyprotein rescues HLA-DR intracellular transport in a human CD4+ cell line.

Major histocompatibility complex class II HLA-DR molecules are plasma-membrane integral heterodimers, constitutively expressed in antigen-presenting cells. Their expression is known to be upregulated in peripheral T lymphocytes upon cell activation and to be constitutive in T cell lines. In H78-C10.

Viral and cellular specificities of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus Vif protein.

The caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) Vif protein is necessary for a productive infection of susceptible goat cells. The vif gene is conserved among all primate and most nonprimate lentiviruses. However, previous reports demonstrated that, in their respective host cells, primate Vif deleted lentiviruses could not be complemented by nonprimate Vif proteins, suggesting that species-specific restrictions between Vif and the virus-producing cells may modulate the Vif function on viral infectivity.

Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus: evidence for a B/D-type assembly pathway in a C-type lentivirus replication.

Lentiviruses, among which is caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV), are known to concomitantly assemble and bud at the plasma membrane of infected cells, in a C-type defined pathway. Electron microscopy analysis of CAEV-infected cells demonstrated viral particles budding at the plasma membrane and into intracellular membrane-surrounded vesicles. Furthermore, nonenveloped immature virus-like particles, resembling intracytoplasmic type-A particles (ICAPs), accumulated within the cytoplasm of those cells.

Fully functional, naturally occurring and C-terminally truncated variant human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Vif does not bind to HIV Gag but influences intermediate filament structure.

A variant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vif gene, vifA45-2, which encodes a protein lacking 19 amino acids at the C terminus but which is fully functional in supporting HIV replication in non-permissive cells has been described previously. By employing newly generated anti-VifA45 serum, further properties of VifA45 and its full-length counterpart, VifA45open, in comparison to Vif from HIV strain BH10 are reported in permissive HeLa and COS-7 cells. The results obtained using confocal microscopic localization studies and in vitro binding assays do not support a requirement for the direct interaction of HIV Gag with Vif.

Tryptophan 95, an amino acid residue of the Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus vif protein which is essential for virus replication.

The Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) vif gene was demonstrated to be essential for efficient virus replication. CAEV Vif deletion mutants demonstrated an attenuated replication phenotype in primary goat cell cultures and resulted in abortive infection when inoculated into goats. In this study, we determined the in vitro replication phenotype of five CAEV Vif point mutant infectious molecular clones and the ability of the corresponding in vitro translated Vif proteins to interact with the CAEV Pr55(gag) in the glutathione S--transferase (GST) binding assay.

Priming with tat-deleted caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) proviral DNA or live virus protects goats from challenge with pathogenic CAEV.

We previously reported that infection of goats with caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) tat- proviral DNA or virus results in persistent infection, since the animals seroconverted and direct virus isolation from cultures of blood-derived macrophages was positive. In this study we wanted to determine whether goats injected with CAEV tat- proviral DNA or virus were protected against challenge with the pathogenic homologous virus and to investigate whether CAEV tat- was still pathogenic. All animals injected with CAEV tat- became infected as indicated by seroconversion and virus isolation.

Requirement of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus vif gene for in vivo replication.

Replication of vif-caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) is highly attenuated in primary goat synovial membrane cells and blood-derived macrophages compared to the wild-type (wt) virus. We investigated the requirement for CAEV Vif for in vivo replication and pathogenicity in goats by intra-articular injection of either infectious proviral DNA or viral supernatants. Wild-type CAEV DNA or virus inoculation induced persistent infection resulting in severe inflammatory arthritic lesions in the joints.

The caprine arthritis encephalitis virus tat gene is dispensable for efficient viral replication in vitro and in vivo.

Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) is a lentivirus closely related to visna virus and more distantly to other lentiviruses, such as human immunodeficiency virus. The genomes of visna virus and CAEV contain a tat gene encoding a protein able to weakly transactivate its own long terminal repeat, suggesting that transactivation may be a dispensable function for viral replication. Three different tat gene mutants of an infectious molecular clone of CAEV were used to study their replication after transfection or infection of primary goat synovial membrane cells and of blood-derived mononuclear cells or macrophages.

The vif gene is essential for efficient replication of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus in goat synovial membrane cells and affects the late steps of the virus replication cycle.

Complex retrovirus genomes contain a variable number of accessory genes, among which is the vif gene. We investigated in vitro the role of the vif gene of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) by studying the phenotype of five vif mutants after infection of primary goat synovial membrane (GSM) cells and blood-derived monocytes/macrophages. Any deletion introduced into the vif gene resulted in slow and low viral replication and production of virions with an infectious titer lower than that of wild-type viral particles.

Identification and subcellular localization of the Q gene product of visna virus.

The genome of the sheep visna lentivirus contains an open reading frame, Q, which has a coding potential of 230 amino acid residues. This paper reports the identification and the subcellular localization of the Q ORF-encoded protein detected in lysates of visna virus-infected sheep choroid plexus cells. Sera from sheep either experimentally or naturally infected with visna virus reacted with the bacterially synthesized Q protein indicating that the in vivo expressed Q product is immunogenic.

HIV1 infection of human monocytes and macrophages promotes induction or translocation of NF-KB-related factors.

In 1991, we demonstrated, using electrophoretic mobility shift assays, that 3 different factors (termed B1, B2 and B3) with affinity for the KB-enhancer target sequence were specifically detected in nuclear extracts from HIV1-infected monocytes and macrophages. The B2 factor was induced in the nuclei of these cells only upon HIV1 infection. The B3 factor was only slightly evident in nuclei of uninfected cells but was readily detectable in nuclei of infected monocytes.

Induction of NF-KB during monocyte differentiation by HIV type 1 infection.

The production of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) progeny was followed in the U937 promonocytic cell line after stimulation either with retinoic acid or PMA, and in purified human monocytes and macrophages. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and Southwestern blotting experiments were used to detect the binding of cellular transactivation factor NF-KB to the double repeat-KB enhancer sequence located in the long terminal repeat. PMA treatment, and not retinoic acid treatment of the U937 cells acts in inducing NF-KB expression in the nuclei.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection of U937 cells promotes cell differentiation and a new pathway of viral assembly.

The differentiation of U937 monoblastoid cells after human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection was studied using the following approaches: reverse transcriptase activity measurement, immunofluorescence labeling, and electron microscopy. For comparison, uninfected U937 cells were induced to differentiate from monocyte to macrophage by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) or retinoic acid (RA) treatment. Both infected and drug-treated cells showed important and similar ultrastructural cell modifications, with a phenotype that decreased in monocyte specificity and increased in that of macrophages.

Measurements of surface contamination of spray equipment with pesticides after various methods of application.

A traditional method to determine operator dermal exposure is to quantify the amount of pesticide coming into contact with specific body regions and then to integrate the deposition density values with the total body surface. It is known that extremely high deposition values may occur in the hand region; however, the source of contamination is generally assumed to be direct splash or contact with the pesticide container. One of the parameters affecting operator/pilot exposure could be the transfer of pesticide residue, particularly in the case of pesticides with a longer half-life, from contaminated surfaces of spray equipment by direct contact over extended periods.

Characteristics of applicator exposure to synthetic pyrethroid in ULV-handheld and ULV-ULA spray applications.

The technique of ultra-low volume by ultra-light aircraft for pesticide spray application has been discussed for some time in North America, mainly due to the air worthiness of such an aircraft which was not designed to carry appreciable amounts of payload. The risk factor of such application in insect control has not been determined, while applicator exposure to insecticide in ULV application by manual sprayer was assessed. An attempt was made to produce, by a series of field exposure measurements, a set of applicator exposure data for ULV-ULA and to compare the results with the data produced in synthetic pyrethroid application by using a hand-held ULV applicator.

Novel structures CTLA-2 alpha and CTLA-2 beta expressed in mouse activated T cells and mast cells and homologous to cysteine proteinase proregions.

Differential screening of a subtracted cDNA library led to the detection of two distinct but homologous mouse cDNA, called CTLA-2 alpha and CTLA-2 beta. The corresponding transcripts have a tissue distribution restricted to T lymphocytes, where they are inducible upon activation, and to mast cells. The open-frame regions of both cDNA encode proteins homologous to cysteine proteinase precursors, remarkably, however, only to the proregion of these.

Proximity of the CTLA-1 serine esterase and Tcr alpha loci in mouse and man.

The serine esterase CTLA-1 gene was shown by in situ hybridization to map to the D segment of mouse chromosome 14, the same localization as a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, Tcr alpha. To further demonstrate the proximity of CTLA-1 and Tcr alpha, genetic linkage was tested in mouse using restriction fragment length polymorphisms and a backcross progeny, and no recombination was observed in the 100 backcross products studied. Recombination events between Tcr alpha/CTLA-1 and the markers Gdh-X and NP-1 show that the most probable order of these loci in the mouse 14D region is NP-1-Tcr alpha/Ctla-1-Gdh-X.

A new member of the immunoglobulin superfamily--CTLA-4.

The immunoglobulin superfamily is a group of proteins, each made of one or several domains sharing key structural features with either the variable (V) or the constant (C) immunoglobulin domains. It includes such functionally important members as the immunoglobulins themselves, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and class II and T-cell receptor (TCR) molecules. Several members of this superfamily are expressed on lymphocytes where they are membrane-bound and capable of interactions with other members of the family, thus taking part in cell-cell recognition.

CTLA-1 and CTLA-3 serine esterase transcripts are detected mostly in cytotoxic T cells, but not only and not always.

We and other investigators previously reported the cloning of CTLA-1 (or CCP-1) and CTLA-3 (or H Factor) serine esterase-related transcripts preferentially expressed in cytolytic T lymphocytes. We extended the survey of the tissue specificity of these molecules. Two main sets of results were obtained.

Self-sparing of long-term in vitro-cloned or uncloned cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

At least some long-term in vitro-cultured cytotoxic T cell clones and uncloned cell populations are able, in the presence of Con A, to lyse other cells, to be lysed by other cells, but not to lyse themselves. This as-yet-unexplained result may have implications as to the mechanism of T cell-mediated cytotoxicity.

The molecular basis of T helper cell function--I. Allotype- and MHC-linked determinants on antigen-specific, H-2-restricted T cell lines, hybridomas and lymphomas.

A T-cell hybridoma clone, which produces antigen-specific helper factors and a T-cell lymphoma clone which produces non-specific helper factors was used to study the expression of T-cell allotypes and Ia antigens. Use was made of rabbit antisera against isolated T-cell receptor material and of monoclonal mouse antibodies against isolated rat Ia antigen. The rabbit antisera detected endogenously produced determinants both on the membrane and on intracellular polypeptides of these cells.