Effects of succinylated concanavalin A on infectivity and syncytial formation of human immunodeficiency virus

✍ Scribed by Toshio Matsui; Susumu Kobayashi; Osamu Yoshida; Shin-ichi Ishii; Yukichi Abe; Naoki Yamamoto

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 633 KB
• Volume: 179
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0300-8584
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00192460

✦ Synopsis

The effects of various lectins on the infectivity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 was investigated. Among the 25 lectins investigated, 2 types of concanavalin A (Con A) and 3 types of phytohemagglutinin were found to inhibit HIV infection. Succinylated Con A (S-Con A) efficiently blocked HIVinduced formation of syncytia in a coculture of MOLT-4 cells and blocked cell-free infection by HIV of MT-4 cells. The HIV-binding study revealed that S-Con A only partially inhibited viral binding to ceils, although the control Leu-3a monoclonal antibody strongly inhibited it. When S-Con A was added to cultures after the initiation of viral adsorption, the number of HIV antigen-positive cells that developed depended on the time interval before addition of the compound. S-Con A inhibited HIV infection even after viral binding to cells at 0 ~ and further incubation at 37 ~ for 1 day. These data suggest that S-Con A inhibited mainly the fusion process rather than viral binding to cells in exerting its anti-HIV activity.