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Beyond Help: Direct Effector Functions of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Specific CD4 + T Cells

2004; American Society for Microbiology; Volume: 78; Issue: 16 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1128/jvi.78.16.8844-8851.2004

1098-5514

Philip J. Norris, Howell Moffett, Otto O. Yang, Daniel E. Kaufmann, Margaret J. Clark, Marylyn M. Addo, Eric Rosenberg,

Cytomegalovirus and herpesvirus research

The immune correlates of protection in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection remain poorly defined, particularly the contribution of CD4(+) T cells. Here we explore the effector functions of HIV-1-specific CD4(+) T cells. We demonstrate HIV-1 p24-specific CD4(+)-T-cell cytolytic activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells directly ex vivo and after enrichment by antigen-specific stimulation. We further show that in a rare long-term nonprogressor, both an HIV-1-specific CD4(+)-T-cell clone and CD4(+) T cells directly ex vivo exert potent suppression of HIV-1 replication. Suppression of viral replication was dependent on cell-cell contact between the effector CD4(+) T cells and the target cells. While the antiviral effector activity of CD8(+) T cells has been well documented, these results strongly suggest that HIV-1-specific CD4(+) T cells are capable of directly contributing to antiviral immunity.