Characterization of a Variant of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type I Isolated from a Healthy Member of a Remote, Recently Contacted Group in Papua New Guinea

We report the characterization of a variant of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) isolated from an interleukin 2-dependent, CD8+T-cell line derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a healthy member of a remote, recently contacted hunter-horticulturalist group (Hagahai) in Madang province of Papua New Guinea. Antigenic characterization of this variant, designated PNG-1, by immunofluorescence, indicated no expression of gag-encoded proteins p19 and p24 (even after incubation with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine), using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against HTLV-I gag gene products. Virus-specific proteins of 15, 19, 46, 53, and 61/68 kDa were demonstrated by Western blot analysis, using sera from patients with serologically and/or virologically confirmed HTLV-I myeloneuropathy, sera from HTLV-I-infected rabbits, and antibodies prepared against the C terminus of the major envelope glycoprotein gp46. Restriction endonuclease maps of PNG-1 proviral DNA differed from that of a prototype strain of HTLV-I (MT-2), but, as verified by polymerase chain reaction, PNG-1 was definitely HTLV-I, not HTLV-II. Nucleotide sequencing and further molecular genetic studies of this variant may provide insights into the origin and evolution of HTLV-I.