HIV Effects of thymic selection of the T-cell repertoire on HLA class I

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20445539

Nature. 2010 May 5. [Epub ahead of print]
Effects of thymic selection of the T-cell repertoire on HLA class I-associated control of HIV infection.

Komrlj A, Read EL, Qi Y, Allen TM, Altfeld M, Deeks SG, Pereyra F, Carrington M, Walker BD, Chakraborty AK.

[1] Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA [2] Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA [3] These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract

Without therapy, most people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ultimately progress to AIDS. Rare individuals ('elite controllers') maintain very low levels of HIV RNA without therapy, thereby making disease progression and transmission unlikely. Certain HLA class I alleles are markedly enriched in elite controllers, with the highest association observed for HLA-B57 (ref. 1). Because HLA molecules present viral peptides that activate CD8(+) T cells, an immune-mediated mechanism is probably responsible for superior control of HIV. Here we describe how the peptide-binding characteristics of HLA-B57 molecules affect thymic development such that, compared to other HLA-restricted T cells, a larger fraction of the naive repertoire of B57-restricted clones recognizes a viral epitope, and these T cells are more cross-reactive to mutants of targeted epitopes. Our calculations predict that such a T-cell repertoire imposes strong immune pressure on immunodominant HIV epitopes and emergent mutants, thereby promoting efficient control of the virus. Supporting these predictions, in a large cohort of HLA-typed individuals, our experiments show that the relative ability of HLA-B alleles to control HIV correlates with their peptide-binding characteristics that affect thymic development. Our results provide a conceptual framework that unifies diverse empirical observations, and have implications for vaccination strategies.

PMID: 20445539 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18353945

fulltext http://ukpmc.ac.uk/articlerender.cgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=18353945

J Virol. 2008 Jun;82(11):5398-407. Epub 2008 Mar 19.
HLA class I-restricted T-cell responses may contribute to the control of human immunodeficiency virus infection, but such responses are not always necessary for long-term virus control.

Emu B, Sinclair E, Hatano H, Ferre A, Shacklett B, Martin JN, McCune JM, Deeks SG.

Positive Health Program, Department of Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. brinda.emu@ucsf.edu
Abstract

A rare subset of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals maintains undetectable HIV RNA levels without therapy ("elite controllers"). To clarify the role of T-cell responses in mediating virus control, we compared HLA class I polymorphisms and HIV-specific T-cell responses among a large cohort of elite controllers (HIV-RNA < 75 copies/ml), "viremic" controllers (low-level viremia without therapy), "noncontrollers" (high-level viremia), and "antiretroviral therapy suppressed" individuals (undetectable HIV-RNA levels on antiretroviral therapy). The proportion of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells that produce gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) in response to Gag and Pol peptides was highest in the elite and viremic controllers (P < 0.0001). Forty percent of the elite controllers were HLA-B*57 compared to twenty-three percent of viremic controllers and nine percent of noncontrollers (P < 0.001). Other HLA class I alleles more common in elite controllers included HLA-B*13, HLA-B*58, and HLA-B*81 (P < 0.05 for each). Within elite and viremic controller groups, those with protective class I alleles had higher frequencies of Gag-specific CD8(+) T cells than those without these alleles (P = 0.01). Noncontrollers, with or without protective alleles, had low-level CD8(+) responses. Thus, certain HLA class I alleles are enriched in HIV controllers and are associated with strong Gag-specific CD8(+)IFN-gamma(+)IL-2(+) T cells. However, the absence of evidence of T cell-mediated control in many controllers suggests the presence of alternative mechanisms for viral control in these individuals. Defining mechanisms for virus control in "non-T-cell controllers" might lead to insights into preventing HIV transmission or preventing virus replication.

PMID: 18353945 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]PMCID: PMC2395228Free PMC Article

Does anybody know of reseach on HLA 1 in CFS?