Individual Cell Analysis of the Cytokine Repertoire in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1–Infected Monocytes/Macrophages by a Combination of Immunocytochemistry and In Situ Hybridization

Abstract

The expression of many cytokines is dysregulated in individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1). To determine the effects of HIV-1 infection on cytokine expression in individual cells (at the single cell level), we investigated the intracellular levels of proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α, interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, and IL-8) and hematopoietic growth factors (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor [G-CSF], granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor [GM-CSF]) in monocyte-derived macrophages, mock-infected, or infected with HIV-1 by immunocytochemical staining for cytokine protein and compared this with secreted cytokine levels as determined by specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). No difference in the frequency or intensity of cell-associated immunocytochemical cytokine staining could be observed between HIV-1 and mock-infected cells even though the level of secreted proinflammatory cytokines increased and the hematopoietic growth factors decreased in HIV-1–infected cultures. Furthermore, equal expression of cytokine mRNA was observed in all cells in the culture regardless of whether the cells were productively infected with HIV-1 as determined by double-labelling immunocytochemical staining for HIV-1 p24 antigen and in situ hybridization for cytokine mRNA expression. These results indicate that HIV-1 infection results in dysregulation of intracellular cytokine mRNA expression and cytokine secretion not only in HIV-1–infected cells, but also through an indirect way(s) affecting cells not producing virus.