Productive infection of the bone marrow cells in feline immunodeficiency virus infected cats

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) from cats experimentally infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) were shown to contain FIV provirus using polymerase chain reaction and viral products were detected in culture supernatant using reverse transcriptase and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay techniques. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from FIV-free cats co-cultured with infected bone marrow cells became productively infected with FIV. Such evidence supports the hypothesis that BMSC are a reservoir for FIV. Furthermore, BMSC produced virions capable of infecting susceptible cells and may represent an important source of infectious virus to cells of the macrophage lineage and/or hemopoietic progenitor cells, both of which ultimately become widely disseminated throughout the body