Interleukin-6 restricts pre-thymic T cell lineage commitment of progenitors driving loss of SIV control.

ABSTRACT: Effective T cell reconstitution in people living with HIV is central to durable immune control and cure strategies. Sustained thymic output underpins T cell recovery and requires continuous seeding by T cell-committed progenitors originating in the bone marrow (BM). Using the SIV/rhesus macaque model, we identified a thymus-seeding progenitor (TSP; CD4^-CD8^-CD34⁺CD38^-CD7⁺) in BM declining rapidly following SIV infection. This loss closely associated with reduction in T cell lineage committed differentiation of BM-derived hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Importantly, both the decline in TSPs and the impairment of pre-thymic T cell potential were strongly associated with early loss of viral control, independent of peripher

SUBMITTER: Anwar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12889539 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature