FERRITIN DOWN-REGULATION IN HIV-INFECTED CELLS

Levels of serum ferritin are increased in AIDS patients in relation to the progression of the disease. To establish whether or not this in vivo increase could be due to a direct effect of the virus on the infected cells, three HIV-permissive cell lines, the CD4-positive HeLa-T4-6c and C8166 cells and the CD4-negative RD cells, were infected with HIV-1 strains. The expression of ferritin was followed during the course of acute infection, in parallel to other cellular components. Unexpectedly, all three cell lines showed a phase of decrease in their ferritin content after infection by HIV-1, not justified by the modest and late increase of ferritin in the fluids, due to disruption of infected cells. Since ferritin is involved in the control of cell growth and DNA synthesis, its downregulation may be implied both in cell toxicity and DNA abnormalities due to HIV infection.