Open Accessγδ T cells in rhesus monkeys and their response to simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection
Author(s) -
GAN Y. H.,
PAUZA C. D.,
MALKOVSKY M.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
clinical & experimental immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1365-2249
pISSN - 0009-9104
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1995.tb03773.x
Subject(s) - simian immunodeficiency virus , virology , immunology , simian , immunodeficiency , biology , virus , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , immune system
SUMMARY Recent reports of the increase in peripheral blood γδ T cells in HIV + patients prompted us to examine the γδ T cell system in rhesus monkeys ( Macaca mulatta ) and the responses of these cells to SIV infection. Our results reveal differences in the γδ T cell subset composition and their expression of CD8 in the peripheral blood of monkeys and humans. The outgrowth of T cells in response to Daudi cells is similar to that in humans, but the exposure to IL‐2 stimulates preferentially the simian Vγ1 subset rather than the Vγ9/Vγ2 subset as found in humans. Upon SIV infection of the monkeys, we observed a transient increase of the percentage of total γδ T cell and the Vγ9 subset. γδ T cells from infected animals also express more activation markers such as CD69, CD44 and the memory marker CD45RO. However, they respond to a lesser degree to Daudi or IL‐2 stimulation in the outgrowth experiments compared with uninfected animals, although the subset composition of total γδ T cells is similar in infected and uninfected animals. The results clearly indicate that γδ T cells in rhesus monkeys are influenced by SIV infection. The detailed analysis of the γδ T cell response to SIV infection can serve as a model for understanding human γδ T cell responses to HIV infections.