Back to search

Combined Effects of HLA-B*57/5801 Elite Suppressor CD8+ T Cells and NK Cells on HIV-1 Replication

Date:

03/20/2020

Topics:

Citation:

May ME, Pohlmeyer CW, Kwaa AK, Mankowski MC, Bailey JR, Blankson JN. Combined Effects of HLA-B*57/5801 Elite Suppressor CD8+ T Cells and NK Cells on HIV-1 Replication. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020 Mar 20;10:113. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00113. PMID: 32266164; PMCID: PMC7098910.

Abstract

Elite controllers or suppressors (ES) are HIV-1 infected individuals who maintain undetectable viral loads without anti-retroviral therapy. The HLA-B*57 allele is overrepresented in ES suggesting a role for HIV-specific CD8+ T cells in immune control. Natural killer (NK) cells also play a role in controlling viral replication, and genetic studies demonstrate that specific combinations of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) alleles and HLA subtypes including HLA-B*57 correlate with delayed progression to AIDS. While prior studies have shown that both HIV-specific CD8+ T cells and NK cells can inhibit viral replication in vitro, the interaction between these two effector cells has not been studied. We performed in vitro suppression assays using CD8+ T cells and NK cells from HLA-B*57 ES either alone or in combination with each other. We found no evidence of antagonism or synergy between the CD8+ T cells and NK cells, suggesting that they have independent mechanisms of inhibition in vitro. Our data has implications for combined immunotherapy with CD8+ T cells and NK cells in HIV cure strategies.

View Full Research Publication

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32266164/