Altered dynamics and differential infection profiles of lymphoid and myeloid cell subsets during acute and chronic HIV-1 infection
Centlivre, M.; Legrand, N.; Steingrover, R.; van der Sluis, R.; Grijsen, M.L.; Bakker, M.; Jurriaans, S.; Berkhout, B.; Paxton, W.A.; Prins, J.M.; Pollakis, G.
Journal of Leukocyte Biology 89(5): 785-795
2011
ISSN/ISBN: 1938-3673 PMID: 21310820 DOI: 10.1189/jlb.0410231
Accession: 051444328
The dynamics of immune cell populations during acute HIV-1 infection are not fully deciphered, especially for non-T cells. In this study, we tested whether specific cellular subsets of the innate arm of the immune response are affected early after HIV-1 infection. Using a cohort of HIV-1-infected individuals, we have monitored the relative frequency of blood T lymphocytes, monocytes, and DCs at various infection stages and measured their respective intracellular HIV-1 DNA loads. The HIV-1 DNA load in naive CD4(+) T lymphocytes, which are lost very early during acute infection, was ten- to 100-fold lower than in CD57(-) and CD57(+) memory CD4(+) T lymphocytes. We observed that despite rapid, persistent loss after HIV-1 infection, pDCs represented a non-negligible HIV-1 DNA reservoir. CD16(+) proinflammatory cDCs and monocytes accumulated gradually, and HIV-infected CD16(+) monocytes contained higher HIV-1 DNA loads than their CD16(-) counterpart during acute infection. During chronic infection, CD16(+) cDCs exhibited higher HIV-1 DNA loads than the CD16(-) population. Overall, our results demonstrate that non-T cell compartments are a major HIV-1 DNA reservoir, and CD16(+) monocytes and CD16(+) cDCs potentially play an important role in HIV-1 dissemination.