Strong ability of Nef-specific CD4+ cytotoxic T cells to suppress HIV-1 replication in HIV-1-infected CD4+ T cells and macrophages. - Related Articles
Strong ability of Nef-specific CD4+ cytotoxic T cells to suppress HIV-1 replication in HIV-1-infected CD4+ T cells and macrophages.
J Virol. 2009 May 20;
Authors: Zheng N, Fujiwara M, Ueno T, Oka S, Takiguchi M
A restricted number of studies have shown that HIV-1-specific cytotoxic CD4(+) T cells are present in HIV-1-infected individuals. However, the roles of this type of CD4(+) T cell in the immune responses against an HIV-1 infection remain unclear. In this study, we identified novel Nef epitope-specific HLA-DRB1*0803-restricted cytotoxic CD4(+) T cells. The CD4(+) T cell clones specific for Nef187-203 showed strong IFN-gamma production after having been stimulated with autologous B-LCLs infected with Nef recombinant vaccinia virus or pulsed with heat-inactivated virus particles, indicating the presentation of the epitope antigen through both exogenous and endogenous MHC class II processing pathways. Nef187-203-specific CD4(+) T cell clones exhibited strong cytotoxic activity against both HIV-1-infected macrophages and CD4(+) T cells from an HLA-DRB1*0803(+) donor. In addition, these Nef-specific cytotoxic CD4(+) T cell clones exhibited strong ability to suppress HIV-1 replication in both macrophages and in CD4(+) T cells in vitro. Nef187-203-specific cytotoxic CD4(+) T cells were detected in cultures of peptide-stimulated PBMC and in ex vivo PBMC from 40% and 20% of DRB1*0803(+) donors, respectively. These results suggest that HIV-1-specific CD4(+) T cells may directly control HIV-1-infection in vivo by suppressing virus replication in HIV-1 natural host cells.
PMID: 19457989 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] [PubMed-HIV]