Effects of thymic selection of the T-cell repertoire on HLA class I-associated control of HIV infection.

ABSTRACT: Without therapy, most people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ultimately progress to AIDS. Rare individuals ('elite controllers') maintain very low levels of HIV RNA without therapy, thereby making disease progression and transmission unlikely. Certain HLA class I alleles are markedly enriched in elite controllers, with the highest association observed for HLA-B57 (ref. 1). Because HLA molecules present viral peptides that activate CD8(+) T cells, an immune-mediated mechanism is probably responsible for superior control of HIV. Here we describe how the peptide-binding characteristics of HLA-B57 molecules affect thymic development such that, compared to other HLA-restricted T cells, a larger fraction of the naive repertoire of B57-restricted clones recognizes a viral epitope

SUBMITTER: Kosmrlj A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3098720 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature