The frequency of α₄β₇(high) memory CD4⁺ T cells correlates with susceptibility to rectal simian immunodeficiency virus infection.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Integrin α₄β₇(high) (α₄β₇(high)) mediates the homing of CD4⁺ T cells to gut-associated lymphoid tissues, which constitute a highly favorable environment for HIV expansion and dissemination. HIV and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) envelope proteins bind to and signal through α₄β₇(high) and during acute infection SIV preferentially infects α₄β₇(high) CD4⁺ T cells. We postulated that the availability of these cells at the time of challenge could influence mucosal SIV transmission and acute viral load (VL).

Methods

We challenged 17 rhesus macaques with 3000 TCID50 of SIVmac239 rectally and followed the subsets of α₄β₇(high) T cells and dendritic cells (DCs) by flow cytometry in blood and tissues, before and after challenge.

Results

We found that the frequen

SUBMITTER: Martinelli E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3815485 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature