Elimination of HIV-1-Infected Primary T Cell Reservoirs in an In Vitro Model of Latency.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-19-2015

JAX Source

PLoS One 2015 May 19; 10(5):e0126917.

Volume

10

Issue

5

First Page

0126917

Last Page

0126917

ISSN

1932-6203

PMID

25993666

Abstract

Establishment of long-lived cellular reservoirs of HIV-1 represents a major therapeutic challenge to virus eradication. In this study, we utilized a human primary cell model of HIV-1 latency to evaluate the requirements for efficient virus reactivation from, and the selective elimination of, latently infected human T cells. Ectopic expression of BCL2 supported the replication and spread of R5-tropic HIV-1 in activated CD4+ T cells. After IL-2 withdrawal, the HIV-1-infected T cells survived as resting cells for several months. Unexpectedly, these resting T cells continue to produce detectable levels of infectious virus, albeit at a lower frequency than cells maintained in IL-2. In the presence of HIV-1 inhibitors, reactivation of the resting T cells with γc-cytokines and allogeneic dendritic cells completely extinguished HIV-1 infectivity. We also evaluated the ability of the bacterial LukED cytotoxin to target and kill CCR5-expressing cells. After γc-cytokine stimulation, LukED treatment eliminated both HIV-1-infected resting cells and the non-infected CCR5+ cells. Importantly, complete clearance of in vitro HIV-1 reservoirs by LukED required a lower threshold of cytokine signals relative to HIV-1 inhibitors. Thus, the primary T cell-based HIV-1 latency model could facilitate the development of novel agents and therapeutic strategies that could effectively eradicate HIV-1. PLoS One 2015 May 19; 10(5):e0126917.

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS