Progesterone Levels Associate with a Novel Population of CCR5+CD38+ CD4 T Cells Resident in the Genital Mucosa with Lymphoid Trafficking Potential.

ABSTRACT: The female genital tract (FGT) provides a means of entry to pathogens, including HIV, yet immune cell populations at this barrier between host and environment are not well defined. We initiated a study of healthy women to characterize resident T cell populations in the lower FGT from lavage and patient-matched peripheral blood to investigate potential mechanisms of HIV sexual transmission. Surprisingly, we observed FGT CD4 T cell populations were primarily CCR7(hi), consistent with a central memory or recirculating memory T cell phenotype. In addition, roughly half of these CCR7(hi) CD4 T cells expressed CD69, consistent with resident memory T cells, whereas the remaining CCR7(hi) CD4 T cells lacked CD69 expression, consistent with recirculating memory CD4 T cells that traffic between peri

SUBMITTER: Swaims-Kohlmeier A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4912879 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature