In Vitro Priming Recapitulates In Vivo HIV-1 Specific T Cell Responses, Revealing Rapid Loss of Virus Reactive CD4+ T Cells in Acute HIV-1 Infection
2009

HIV-1 Specific T Cell Responses Primed by Dendritic Cells

Sample size: 11 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Lubong Sabado, Daniel G. Kavanagh, Daniel E. Kaufmann, Karlhans Fru, Ethan Babcock, Eric Rosenberg, Bruce Walker, Jeffrey Lifson, Nina Bhardwaj, Marie Larsson

Primary Institution: New York University School of Medicine

Hypothesis

Can dendritic cells pulsed with HIV-1 prime HIV-specific T cell responses?

Conclusion

Dendritic cells can efficiently prime naïve T cells and induce a broad repertoire of HIV-specific responses, which are lost rapidly in acute HIV-1 infection.

Supporting Evidence

  • Dendritic cells pulsed with both infectious and inactivated HIV-1 can prime HIV-specific responses from naïve T cells.
  • Responses included several CD4+ and CD8+ T cell epitopes recognized in vivo by infected individuals.
  • CD4+ T cell responses were shown to decline rapidly after acute HIV infection.

Takeaway

Researchers found that special immune cells called dendritic cells can help train other immune cells to fight HIV, but these trained cells can disappear quickly after infection.

Methodology

The study involved pulsing dendritic cells with infectious and inactivated HIV-1 to assess their ability to prime T cell responses from naïve T cells in vitro.

Potential Biases

Potential biases may arise from the selection of donors and the specific immune responses measured.

Limitations

The study's findings may not fully represent in vivo conditions, and the reasons for failure to induce priming in some donors are unknown.

Participant Demographics

Participants were 11 HIV-negative individuals from whom naïve T cells were isolated.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p=0.02

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pone.0004256

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