Diminished viral control during simian immunodeficiency virus infection is associated with aberrant PD-1hi CD4 T cell enrichment in the lymphoid follicles of the rectal mucosa.

ABSTRACT: The inhibitory receptor programmed death-1 (PD-1) has been shown to regulate CD8 T cell function during chronic SIV infection; however, its role on CD4 T cells, specifically in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue, is less well understood. In this study, we show that a subset of CD4 T cells expresses high levels of PD-1 (PD-1(hi)) in the rectal mucosa, a preferential site of virus replication. The majority of these PD-1(hi) CD4 T cells expressed Bcl-6 and CXCR5, markers characteristic of T follicular helper cells in the lymph nodes. Following a pathogenic SIV infection, the frequency of PD-1(hi) cells (as a percentage of CD4 T cells) dramatically increased in the rectal mucosa; however, a significant fraction of them did not express CXCR5. Furthermore, only a small fraction of PD-1(hi) cells

SUBMITTER: Mylvaganam GH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4201952 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature