Activation, exhaustion, and persistent decline of the antimicrobial MR1-restricted MAIT-cell population in chronic HIV-1 infection.

ABSTRACT: Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are an evolutionarily conserved antimicrobial MR1-restricted T-cell subset. MAIT cells are CD161(+), express a V7.2 TCR, are primarily CD8(+) and numerous in blood and mucosal tissues. However, their role in HIV-1 infection is unknown. In this study, we found levels of MAIT cells to be severely reduced in circulation in patients with chronic HIV-1 infection. Residual MAIT cells were highly activated and functionally exhausted. Their decline was associated with time since diagnosis, activation levels, and the concomitant expansion of a subset of functionally impaired CD161(+) V7.2(+) T cells. Such cells were generated in vitro by exposure of MAIT cells to Escherichia coli. Notably, whereas the function of residual MAIT cells was at least partly re

SUBMITTER: Leeansyah E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3575756 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature