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HIV ‐specific T ‐cell responses detected in the genital tract of chronically HIV ‐infected women are largely monofunctional
Author(s) -
Bere Alfred,
Denny Lynette,
Naicker Prinola,
Burgers Wendy A.,
Passmore JoAnn S.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.297
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1365-2567
pISSN - 0019-2805
DOI - 10.1111/imm.12084
Subject(s) - flow cytometry , biology , cervix , immunology , tumor necrosis factor alpha , cell , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , cancer , genetics
HIV ‐specific T cells that produce interferon‐γ ( IFN ‐γ) are present in the genital tract of HIV ‐infected women although these do not provide protection against genital HIV shedding. Because polyfunctional HIV ‐specific T cells have been implicated in better HIV control than those with a single function, this study aimed to investigate whether polyfunctional T cells were present at the female genital mucosa. Cervical cytobrush‐derived T cells were obtained from chronically HIV ‐infected women and compared with blood. CD 3 + T cells from both compartments were expanded with Dynal anti‐ CD 3/ CD 28 expander beads for 14 days and flow cytometry was used to evaluate four T ‐cell functions ( CD 107a, IFN ‐ γ, tumour necrosis factor‐α and macrophage inflammatory protein‐1β) from 16 women. The majority of Gag‐specific T‐cell responses in the female genital tract were monofunctional, although low frequencies of HIV Gag‐specific polyfunctional CD 8 + T cells were detected at the cervix in 81·3% (13/16) of women. The ability of CD 8 + T cells at both the cervix and in blood to express CD 107a and to exhibit polyfunctional responses (two or more functions) following Gag stimulation was inversely associated with plasma viral load and positively associated with blood CD 4 counts, suggesting that clinical status impacted on the functionality of HIV ‐specific T cells at the mucosa, in a similar way to blood. HIV G ag‐specific cervical T cells were largely monofunctional. Polyfunctional T cells were detected at the cervix in women with high blood CD 4 count and low plasma viral load but these did not protect from HIV genital shedding.