High-Frequency, Functional HIV-Specific T-Follicular Helper and Regulatory Cells Are Present Within Germinal Centers in Children but Not Adults.

ABSTRACT: Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) against HIV-1 are an effective means of preventing transmission. To better understand the mechanisms by which HIV-specific bnAbs naturally develop, we investigated blood and lymphoid tissue in pediatric infection, since potent bnAbs develop with greater frequency in children than adults. As in adults, the frequency of circulating effector T-follicular helper cells (T_FH) in HIV infected, treatment naïve children correlates with neutralization breadth. However, major differences between children and adults were also observed both in circulation, and in a small number of tonsil samples. In children, T_FH cells are significantly more abundant, both in blood and in lymphoid tissue germinal centers, than in adults. Second, HIV-specific

SUBMITTER: Roider J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6143653 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature