Impaired NK Cell Activation and Chemotaxis toward Dendritic Cells Exposed to Complement-Opsonized HIV-1

Mucosa resident dendritic cells (DCs) may represent one of the first immune cells that HIV-1 encounters during sexual transmission. The virions in body fluids can be opsonized with complement factors because of HIV-mediated triggering of the complement cascade, and this appears to influence numerous aspects of the immune defense targeting the virus. One key attribute of host defense is the ability to attract immune cells to the site of infection. In this study, we investigated whether the opsonization of HIV with complement (C-HIV) or a mixture of complement and Abs (CI-HIV) affected the cytokine and chemokine responses generated by DCs, as well as their ability to attract other immune cells. We found that the expression levels of CXCL8, CXCL10, CCL3, and CCL17 were lowered after exposure to either C-HIV or CI-HIV relative to free HIV (F-HIV). DCs exposed to F-HIV induced higher cell migration, consisting mainly of NK cells, compared with opsonized virus, and the chemotaxis of NK cells was dependent on CCL3 and CXCL10. NK cell exposure to supernatants derived from HIV-exposed DCs showed that F-HIV induced phenotypic activation (e.g., increased levels of TIM3, CD69, and CD25) and effector function (e.g., production of IFNγ and killing of target cells) in NK cells, whereas C-HIV and CI-HIV did not. The impairment of NK cell recruitment by DCs exposed to complement-opsonized HIV and the lack of NK activation may contribute to the failure of innate immune responses to control HIV at the site of initial mucosa infection.