scholarly journals Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) enhances susceptibility and increases the window of vulnerability to HIV-1 in humanized mice

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelyn M. Wessels ◽  
Philip V. Nguyen ◽  
Danielle Vitali ◽  
Kristen Mueller ◽  
Fatemeh Vahedi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Medroxyprogesterone Acetate ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Hormonal Contraceptives ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate ◽  
Vaginal Tract ◽  
Window Of Vulnerability ◽  
Hiv 1

AbstractThe progestin-based hormonal contraceptive Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (DMPA) is widely used in sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV-1 is endemic. Meta-analyses have shown that women using DMPA are 40% more likely than women not using hormonal contraceptives to acquire Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1). Therefore understanding how DMPA increases susceptibility to HIV-1 is an important public health issue. Using C57BL/6 mice and our previously optimized humanized mouse model (NOD-Rag1tm1Mom Il2rgtm1Wjl transplanted with hCD34-enriched hematopoietic stem cells; Hu-mice) where peripheral blood and tissues are reconstituted by human immune cells, we assessed how DMPA affected mucosal barrier function, HIV-1 susceptibility, viral titres, and target cells compared to mice in the diestrus phase of the estrous cycle, when endogenous progesterone is highest. We found that DMPA enhanced FITC-dextran dye leakage from the vaginal tract into the systemic circulation, enhanced target cells (hCD68+ macrophages, hCD4+ T cells) in the vaginal tract and peripheral blood (hCD45+hCD3+hCD4+hCCR5+ T cells), increased the rate of intravaginal HIV-1 infection, extended the window of vulnerability, and lowered vaginal viral titres following infection. These findings suggest DMPA may enhance susceptibility to HIV-1 in Hu-mice by impairing the vaginal epithelial barrier, increasing vaginal target cells (including macrophages), and extending the period of time during which Hu-mice are susceptible to infection; mechanisms that might also affect HIV-1 susceptibility in women.

scholarly journals Hormonal Contraception and HIV-1 Infection: Medroxyprogesterone Acetate Suppresses Innate and Adaptive Immune Mechanisms

Endocrinology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 154 (3) ◽  
pp. 1282-1295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. H. Huijbregts ◽  
E. Scott Helton ◽  
Katherine G. Michel ◽  
Steffanie Sabbaj ◽  
Holly E. Richter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Medroxyprogesterone Acetate ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Hormonal Contraception ◽  
Hormonal Contraceptives ◽  
Activated T Cells ◽  
Peripheral Blood Mononuclear ◽  
Cytokines And Chemokines ◽  
Immunological Mechanisms ◽  
Hiv 1

Abstract Recent observational studies indicate an association between the use of hormonal contraceptives and acquisition and transmission of HIV-1. The biological and immunological mechanisms underlying the observed association are unknown. Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) is a progestin-only injectable contraceptive that is commonly used in regions with high HIV-1 prevalence. Here we show that medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) suppresses the production of key regulators of cellular and humoral immunity involved in orchestrating the immune response to invading pathogens. MPA inhibited the production of interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-12, TNFα, macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), and other cytokines and chemokines by peripheral blood cells and activated T cells and reduced the production of IFNα and TNFα by plasmacytoid dendritic cells in response to Toll-like receptor-7, -8, and -9 ligands. Women using DMPA displayed lower levels of IFNα in plasma and genital secretions compared with controls with no hormonal contraception. In addition, MPA prevented the down-regulation of HIV-1 coreceptors CXCR4 and CCR5 on the surface of T cells after activation and increased HIV-1 replication in activated peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures. The presented results suggest that MPA suppresses both innate and adaptive arms of the immune system resulting in a reduction of host resistance to invading pathogens.

scholarly journals Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1/HTLV-IIIBa-L) replication in fresh and cultured human peripheral blood monocytes/macrophages by azidothymidine and related 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides.

1988 ◽  
Vol 168 (3) ◽  
pp. 1111-1125 ◽  
Author(s):  
C F Perno ◽  
R Yarchoan ◽  
D A Cooney ◽  
N R Hartman ◽  
S Gartner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Human Peripheral Blood ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Blood Monocytes ◽  
Deoxynucleoside Triphosphate ◽  
Dideoxynucleoside Triphosphate ◽  
Hiv 1

Because of the probable role of HIV-infected monocyte/macrophages in the pathogenesis and progression of AIDS, it is essential that antiretroviral therapy address viral replication in cells of this lineage. Several dideoxynucleosides have been shown to have potent in vitro and, in the case of 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT) and 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC), in vivo activity against HIV. However, because these compounds must be phosphorylated (activated) in target cells, and because monocyte/macrophages may have levels of kinases that differ from those in lymphocytes, we investigated the capacity of these drugs to suppress HIV replication in monocyte/macrophages using HIV-1/HTLV-IIIBa-L (a monocytotropic isolate). In the present study, we observed that HTLV-IIIBa-L replication in fresh human peripheral blood monocyte/macrophages was suppressed by each of three dideoxynucleosides: 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT), 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC), and 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine (ddA). Similar results were observed in 5-d-cultured monocyte/macrophages, although higher concentrations of the drugs were required. We then studied the metabolism of AZT and ddC in such cells. The phosphorylation of ddC to a triphosphate moiety was somewhat decreased in monocyte/macrophages as compared with H9 T cells. On the other hand, the phosphorylation of AZT in monocyte/macrophages was markedly decreased to 25% or less of the level in T cells. However, when we examined the level of the normal endogenous 2'-deoxynucleoside triphosphate pools, which compete with 2',3'-dideoxynucleoside triphosphate for viral reverse transcriptase, we found that the level of 2'-deoxycytidine-triphosphate (dCTP) was six- to eightfold reduced, and that of 2'-deoxythymidine-triphosphate (dTTP) was only a small fraction of that found in T cell lines. These results suggest that the ratio of dideoxynucleoside triphosphate to normal deoxynucleoside triphosphate is a crucial factor in determining the antiviral activity of dideoxynucleosides in HIV target cells, and that the lower levels of dTTP may account for the antiretroviral activity of AZT in the face of inefficient phosphorylation of this compound.

scholarly journals CD73+ CD127high Long-Term Memory CD4 T Cells Are Highly Proliferative in Response to Recall Antigens and Are Early Targets in HIV-1 Infection

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 912
Author(s):  
Nabila Seddiki ◽  
John Zaunders ◽  
Chan Phetsouphanh ◽  
Vedran Brezar ◽  
Yin Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Cd4 T Cells ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Ki 67 ◽  
Memory Cd4 T Cells ◽  
Hiv 1

HIV-1 infection rapidly leads to a loss of the proliferative response of memory CD4+ T lymphocytes, when cultured with recall antigens. We report here that CD73 expression defines a subset of resting memory CD4+ T cells in peripheral blood, which highly express the α-chain of the IL-7 receptor (CD127), but not CD38 or Ki-67, yet are highly proliferative in response to mitogen and recall antigens, and to IL-7, in vitro. These cells also preferentially express CCR5 and produce IL-2. We reasoned that CD73+ memory CD4+ T cells decrease very early in HIV-1 infection. Indeed, CD73+ memory CD4+ T cells comprised a median of 7.5% (interquartile range: 4.5–10.4%) of CD4+ T cells in peripheral blood from healthy adults, but were decreased in primary HIV-1 infection to a median of 3.7% (IQR: 2.6–6.4%; p = 0.002); and in chronic HIV-1 infection to 1.9% (IQR: 1.1–3%; p < 0.0001), and were not restored by antiretroviral therapy. Moreover, we found that a significant proportion of CD73+ memory CD4+ T cells were skewed to a gut-homing phenotype, expressing integrins α4 and β7, CXCR3, CCR6, CD161 and CD26. Accordingly, 20% of CD4+ T cells present in gut biopsies were CD73+. In HIV+ subjects, purified CD73+ resting memory CD4+ T cells in PBMC were infected with HIV-1 DNA, determined by real-time PCR, to the same level as for purified CD73-negative CD4+ T cells, both in untreated and treated subjects. Therefore, the proliferative CD73+ subset of memory CD4+ T cells is disproportionately reduced in HIV-1 infection, but, unexpectedly, their IL-7 dependent long-term resting phenotype suggests that residual infected cells in this subset may contribute significantly to the very long-lived HIV proviral DNA reservoir in treated subjects.

scholarly journals 151 Potentiating the Large-Scale Expansion and Engineering of Peripheral Blood-Derived CAR NK Cells for Off-the-Shelf Application

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A159-A159
Author(s):  
Michael Whang ◽  
Ming-Hong Xie ◽  
Kate Jamboretz ◽  
Hadia Lemar ◽  
Chao Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Cell Therapy ◽  
Nk Cells ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Nk Cell ◽  
Adoptive Cell Therapy ◽  
Therapeutic Window ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Healthy Donors ◽  
Custom Made

BackgroundPeripheral blood natural killer (NK) cells are mature cytotoxic innate lymphocytes possessing an inherent capacity for tumor cell killing, thus making them attractive candidates for adoptive cell therapy. These NK cells are also amenable to CRISPR and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) genomic engineering for enhanced functions. Moreover, NK cells possess an inherent capacity for off-the-shelf therapy since they are not known to cause graft-versus-host disease, unlike T cells. Presently, approved CAR cell therapy is custom-made from each patient‘s own T cells, a process that can limit patient pool, narrow therapeutic window, and contribute to product variability. In this study, we investigate whether peripheral blood NK cells from a selected donor can be edited, engineered, and expanded sufficiently for off-the-shelf use in a wide patient population.MethodsUsing the CRISPR/Cas9 system, we knocked out CISH expression in isolated peripheral blood NK cells from 3 healthy donors. Subsequently, we expanded edited NK cells by using IL-2 and sequential stimulations using NKSTIM, a modified K562 stimulatory cell line expressing membrane-bound form of IL-15 (mbIL-15) and 4-1BBL. IL-12 and IL-18 were added twice during expansion to drive memory-like NK cell differentiation. We transduced the expanded NK cells to express engineered CD19-targeted CAR and mbIL-15 during an interval between the first and second NKSTIM pulses. We assessed NK cell cytotoxicity against Nalm6 target cells by IncuCyte.ResultsIsolated peripheral blood NK cells from 3 healthy donors were successfully edited using CRISPR/Cas9, engineered to express high levels of CAR, extensively expanded using a series of NKSTIM pulses in the presence of IL-2, and differentiated into memory-like NK cells using IL-12 and IL-18. Interestingly, NK cells from the 3 donors exhibited distinct outcomes. NK cells from one donor reached a peak expansion limit of approximately 7-million-fold before undergoing contraction whereas NK cells from two donors continued to expand over the length of the study surpassing 100-million-fold expansion, without appearing to have reached a terminal expansion limit. At the end of the study, NK cells from one donor exceeded 1-billion-fold expansion and maintained 88% cytolytic activity compared to Nkarta’s standard process control in a 72-hour IncuCyte assay.ConclusionsIn this study, we demonstrate that healthy donor-derived peripheral blood NK cells are capable of expanding over billion-fold while maintaining potency. These results provide a rationale for the development of off-the-shelf CAR NK cell therapies using NK cells from donors selected to provide optimal product characteristics.Ethics ApprovalHuman samples were collected with written informed consent by an approved vendor.

scholarly journals Human bone marrow and peripheral blood T lymphocyte depletion: efficacy and effects of both T cells and monocytes on growth of hematopoietic progenitors

Blood ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 663-679
Author(s):  
L Levitt ◽  
TJ Kipps ◽  
EG Engleman ◽  
PL Greenberg
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
T Lymphocyte ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Cell Depletion ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Facs Analysis ◽  
Hematopoietic Progenitors ◽  
T Cell Depletion

The efficacy of four separate methods of human bone marrow T lymphocyte depletion was assessed, and the effect of T cells and monocytes on in vitro growth of marrow (CFU-GEMM, BFU-E, and CFU-GM) and peripheral blood (BFU-E) hematopoietic progenitors was determined. Extent of T cell depletion was assessed by multiparameter fluorescent cell sorter (FACS) analysis and by functional studies. Cells staining positively by FACS analysis for one or more of three separate fluorescent pan-T cell monoclonal antibodies (MCAbs) comprised 8.4% to 9.5% of control marrow mononuclear cells (MNCs). T cells constituted 3.2% to 5.1% of marrow following single, sequential, or combination treatment with two different pan-T cell MCAbs (Leu 1 and TM1) plus complement, 1.5% to 2.2% of marrow following solid-phase immunoabsorption (“panning”), 0.2% of marrow after sheep cell rosetting, and only 0.05% of marrow after FACS selective cell sorting and gated separation. T cells made up 59% to 73% of control peripheral blood MNCs and 0.8% to 2.8% of peripheral MNCs following sheep cell rosetting plus treatment with Leu 1 MCAb and complement. Mitogen (PHA, Con A) and allogeneic MLC-induced blastogenic responses (stimulation indices, experimental/control or E/C) revealed a concordant decrement in marrow T cell function after MCAb plus complement (E/C of 3.9 to 9.0), after panning (E/C of 1.6 to 3.5) and after sheep cell rosetting (E/C of 0.7 to 1.3), compared with control marrow (E/C of 5.3 to 15.7). After T cell depletion, marrow BFU-E growth was 95% to 120% of control, CFU-GM growth was 90% to 108% of control, and CFU-GEMM growth was 89% to 111% of control. Marrow T cell and/or monocyte depletion did not alter erythropoietin-dependent BFU-E growth in the absence of Mo-conditioned medium (81% to 95% of control), and the addition of as many as 50 to 100 X 10(3) purified marrow monocytes or T cells to 10(5) autologous nonadherent T cell-depleted marrow target cells had a negligible (P greater than .1) effect on marrow BFU-E growth in vitro. Peripheral blood (PB) BFU-E/10(5) T- depleted target cells were 106% +/- 19% of expected; PB BFU-E growth was significantly diminished after monocyte depletion alone (7% +/- 6% of expected) or after monocyte plus T cell depletion (8% +/- 4% of expected).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

scholarly journals Preferential and persistent impact of acute HIV-1 infection on CD4+ iNKT cells in colonic mucosa

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (46) ◽  
pp. e2104721118
Author(s):  
Dominic Paquin-Proulx ◽  
Kerri G. Lal ◽  
Yuwadee Phuang-Ngern ◽  
Matthew Creegan ◽  
Andrey Tokarev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Colonic Mucosa ◽  
Inkt Cells ◽  
Elevated Expression ◽  
Acute Hiv ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Hiv 1

Acute HIV-1 infection (AHI) results in the widespread depletion of CD4+ T cells in peripheral blood and gut mucosal tissue. However, the impact on the predominantly CD4+ immunoregulatory invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells during AHI remains unknown. Here, iNKT cells from peripheral blood and colonic mucosa were investigated during treated and untreated AHI. iNKT cells in blood were activated and rapidly depleted in untreated AHI. At the time of peak HIV-1 viral load, these cells showed the elevated expression of cell death–associated transcripts compared to preinfection. Residual peripheral iNKT cells suffered a diminished responsiveness to in vitro stimulation early into chronic infection. Additionally, HIV-1 DNA, as well as spliced and unspliced viral RNA, were detected in iNKT cells isolated from blood, indicating the active infection of these cells in vivo. The loss of iNKT cells occurred from Fiebig stage III in the colonic mucosa, and these cells were not restored to normal levels after initiation of ART during AHI. CD4+ iNKT cells were depleted faster and more profoundly than conventional CD4+ T cells, and the preferential infection of CD4+ iNKT cells over conventional CD4+ T cells was confirmed by in vitro infection experiments. In vitro data also provided evidence of latent infection in iNKT cells. Strikingly, preinfection levels of peripheral blood CD4+ iNKT cells correlated directly with the peak HIV-1 load. These findings support a model in which iNKT cells are early targets for HIV-1 infection, driving their rapid loss from circulation and colonic mucosa.

scholarly journals Modulation of the CCR5 Receptor/Ligand Axis by Seminal Plasma and the Utility of In Vitro versus In Vivo Models

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Juno ◽  
Kathleen M. Wragg ◽  
Anne B. Kristensen ◽  
Wen Shi Lee ◽  
Kevin J. Selva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Seminal Plasma ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Ccr5 Expression ◽  
Ccr5 Receptor ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Hiv 1

ABSTRACT Sexual HIV-1 transmission occurs primarily in the presence of semen. Although data from macaque studies suggest that CCR5+ CD4+ T cells are initial targets for HIV-1 infection, the impact of semen on T cell CCR5 expression and ligand production remains inconclusive. To determine if semen modulates the lymphocyte CCR5 receptor/ligand axis, primary human T cell CCR5 expression and natural killer (NK) cell anti-HIV-1 antibody-dependent beta chemokine production was assessed following seminal plasma (SP) exposure. Purified T cells produce sufficient quantities of RANTES to result in a significant decline in CCR5bright T cell frequency following 16 h of SP exposure (P = 0.03). Meanwhile, NK cells retain the capacity to produce limited amounts of MIP-1α/MIP-1β in response to anti-HIV-1 antibody-dependent stimulation (median, 9.5% MIP-1α+ and/or MIP-1β+), despite the immunosuppressive nature of SP. Although these in vitro experiments suggest that SP-induced CCR5 ligand production results in the loss of surface CCR5 expression on CD4+ T cells, the in vivo implications are unclear. We therefore vaginally exposed five pigtail macaques to SP and found that such exposure resulted in an increase in CCR5+ HIV-1 target cells in three of the animals. The in vivo data support a growing body of evidence suggesting that semen exposure recruits target cells to the vagina that are highly susceptible to HIV-1 infection, which has important implications for HIV-1 transmission and vaccine design. IMPORTANCE The majority of HIV-1 vaccine studies do not take into consideration the impact that semen exposure might have on the mucosal immune system. In this study, we demonstrate that seminal plasma (SP) exposure can alter CCR5 expression on T cells. Importantly, in vitro studies of T cells in culture cannot replicate the conditions under which immune cells might be recruited to the genital mucosa in vivo, leading to potentially erroneous conclusions about the impact of semen on mucosal HIV-1 susceptibility.

scholarly journals Defective HIV-1 proviruses produce viral proteins

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (7) ◽  
pp. 3704-3710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromi Imamichi ◽  
Mindy Smith ◽  
Joseph W. Adelsberger ◽  
Taisuke Izumi ◽  
Francesca Scrimieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Mononuclear Cells ◽  
Viral Proteins ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Peripheral Blood Mononuclear ◽  
Hiv Rna ◽  
Rna Transcripts ◽  
Extracellular Virus ◽  
Hiv 1

HIV-1 proviruses persist in the CD4+ T cells of HIV-infected individuals despite years of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) with suppression of HIV-1 RNA levels <40 copies/mL. Greater than 95% of these proviruses detected in circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are referred to as “defective” by virtue of having large internal deletions and lethal genetic mutations. As these defective proviruses are unable to encode intact and replication-competent viruses, they have long been thought of as biologically irrelevant “graveyard” of viruses with little significance to HIV-1 pathogenesis. Contrary to this notion, we have recently demonstrated that these defective proviruses are not silent, are capable of transcribing novel unspliced forms of HIV-RNA transcripts with competent open reading frames (ORFs), and can be found in the peripheral blood CD4+ T cells of patients at all stages of HIV-1 infection. In the present study, by an approach of combining serial dilutions of CD4+ T cells and T cell–cloning technologies, we are able to demonstrate that defective proviruses that persist in HIV-infected individuals during suppressive cART are translationally competent and produce the HIV-1 Gag and Nef proteins. The HIV-RNA transcripts expressed from these defective proviruses may trigger an element of innate immunity. Likewise, the viral proteins coded in the defective proviruses may form extracellular virus-like particles and may trigger immune responses. The persistent production of HIV-1 proteins in the absence of viral replication helps explain persistent immune activation despite HIV-1 levels below detection, and also presents new challenges to HIV-1 eradication.

scholarly journals Slaying the Trojan Horse: Natural Killer Cells Exhibit Robust Anti-HIV-1 Antibody-Dependent Activation and Cytolysis against Allogeneic T Cells

2014 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shayarana L. Gooneratne ◽  
Jonathan Richard ◽  
Wen Shi Lee ◽  
Andrés Finzi ◽  
Stephen J. Kent ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Nk Cells ◽  
Natural Killer ◽  
Nk Cell ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Inhibitory Receptors ◽  
Cell Responses ◽  
Anti Hiv ◽  
Hiv 1

ABSTRACTMany attempts to design prophylactic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccines have focused on the induction of neutralizing antibodies (Abs) that block infection by free virions. Despite the focus on viral particles, virus-infected cells, which can be found within mucosal secretions, are more infectious than free virus bothin vitroandin vivo. Furthermore, assessment of human transmission couples suggests infected seminal lymphocytes might be responsible for a proportion of HIV-1 transmissions. Although vaccines that induce neutralizing Abs are sought, only some broadly neutralizing Abs efficiently block cell-to-cell transmission of HIV-1. As HIV-1 vaccines need to elicit immune responses capable of controlling both free and cell-associated virus, we evaluated the potential of natural killer (NK) cells to respond in an Ab-dependent manner to allogeneic T cells bearing HIV-1 antigens. This study presents data measuring Ab-dependent anti-HIV-1 NK cell responses to primary and transformed allogeneic T-cell targets. We found that NK cells are robustly activated in an anti-HIV-1 Ab-dependent manner against allogeneic targets and that tested target cells are subject to Ab-dependent cytolysis. Furthermore, the educated KIR3DL1+NK cell subset from HLA-Bw4+individuals exhibits an activation advantage over the KIR3DL1−subset that contains both NK cells educated through other receptor/ligand combinations and uneducated NK cells. These results are intriguing and important for understanding the regulation of Ab-dependent NK cell responses and are potentially valuable for designing Ab-dependent therapies and/or vaccines.IMPORTANCENK cell-mediated anti-HIV-1 antibody-dependent functions have been associated with protection from infection and disease progression; however, their role in protecting from infection with allogeneic cells infected with HIV-1 is unknown. We found that HIV-1-specific ADCC antibodies bound to allogeneic cells infected with HIV-1 or coated with HIV-1 gp120 were capable of activating NK cells and/or trigging cytolysis of the allogeneic target cells. This suggests ADCC may be able to assist in preventing infection with cell-associated HIV-1. In order to fully utilize NK cell-mediated Ab-dependent effector functions, it might also be important that educated NK cells, which hold the highest activation potential, can become activated against targets bearing HIV-1 antigens and expressing the ligands for self-inhibitory receptors. Here, we show that with Ab-dependent stimulation, NK cells expressing inhibitory receptors can mediate robust activation against targets expressing the ligands for those receptors.

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