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Journal of Virology, June 2007, p. 5759-5765, Vol. 81, No. 11
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.00045-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Peter Medawar Building For Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3SY, United Kingdom,1 Division of Experimental Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143,2 Positive Health Program, Department of Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94110,3 Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden4
Received 8 January 2007/ Accepted 15 March 2007
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It is clear that the immune system can control HIV-1 replication to a certain extent, albeit with large interindividual variation. The CD8+ T-cell response is assumed to play an important role (10, 17), is regarded as being sufficiently robust to exert some control of viral replication following acute infection, and probably helps to establish the viral load set point, a key long-term prognostic indicator (22). Progression to AIDS in untreated HIV-1-infected individuals is in general inevitable. However, some patients progress to AIDS only slowly, if at all. These rare patients, known as long-term nonprogressors (LTNPs), may have superior immune responses, suggesting that in the majority of infected persons, the CD8+ T-cell response does not attain its full potential. Therefore, manipulation of the CD8+ T-cell response, e.g., by vaccination, may pave the way to partial and perhaps even permanent control of HIV-1 infection.
However, despite strong evidence for a role for CD8+ T cells in the control of HIV-1 infection (10, 17), attempts to statistically link the magnitude of the CD8+ T-cell response with control of HIV-1 replication in vivo have yielded contradictory results (1, 3, 8, 12, 21, 23). Indeed, the majority of studies have not confirmed an association of the magnitude of the CD8+ T-cell response with control of HIV-1 viral replication (1, 4, 12, 21), and one study actually showed that a large HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell response was linked to higher HIV-1 viral loads (21). In light of these studies, use of the magnitude of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell responses alone as a predictor of clinical outcome is not appropriate. However, studies combining quantitative and qualitative examinations of CD8+ T-cell responses may enable the input of this factor in the control of HIV-1 infection to be determined. For example, a recent study using multicolor flow cytometry showed that LTNPs have more multifunctional HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells than do persons with progressive disease (4).
In addition to examining the role of multifunctional cells, it is plausible that the general phenotype of the HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell response is linked to its antiviral capacity. Different memory T-cell subsets, defined according to phenotype, have different functional capabilities and roles (19, 25), and their relative contributions to the overall size of the response may relate to overall efficacy. For example, HIV-1-specific CD8+ CCR7 CD45RA effector memory T cells (TEM cells), which are CCR7, have a powerful and direct antiviral capacity; on the other hand, central memory T cells, which are CCR7+, have little direct antiviral activity but probably serve to replenish and sustain CD8+ TEM cell populations through secretion of interleukin-2 and proliferation. In addition, some TEM cells lose CD45RO and reexpress CD45RA (CD45RA reversion), although the significance of this is uncertain.
One of the limitations of studies that aim to correlate T-cell responses in chronic HIV infection with control of viremia is that it is difficult to discern whether the control of viremia is a consequence of the particular T-cell response or vice versa. Analyses of CD8+ T-cell responses in early HIV infection in relation to future viral load set point could help to discern between these two possibilities and might thus provide a more robust approach when evaluating the role of CD8+ T cells in determining viral load. This study set out to test the hypothesis that the HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell phenotype early in infection relates to the overall potency of the response and predicts control of HIV-1 viral replication.
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Cytokine flow cytometry and phenotyping.
Thawed PBMC were cultured with 1 µg/ml staphylococcal toxin B (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO), 1 µg/ml HIV Gag p55 peptide mix (BD Biosciences, San Diego, CA), or R15 medium alone for 15 h. Brefeldin A (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) was added at a final concentration of 5 µg/ml after 1 h of culture. After culture, cells were washed in fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) buffer (phosphate-buffered saline with 2 mM EDTA and 1% bovine serum albumin) and stained with allophycocyanin-Cy7-conjugated anti-CD4, phycoerythrin (PE)-Cy5.5-conjugated anti-CD8, biotinylated anti-CD45RA, PE-Cy7-conjugated anti-CCR7, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated anti-CD57, or PE-conjugated anti-CD27 (all from BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA) for 30 min at 4°C. The cells were subsequently washed, fixed in 1% paraformaldehyde for 15 min, and permeabilized in FACS permeabilizing solution II (BD Biosciences) for 20 min prior to being stained with energy-coupled dye-conjugated anti-CD3 (Beckman Coulter), Pacific Blue-conjugated streptavidin, or allophycocyanin-conjugated anti-gamma interferon (IFN-
) (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA). Finally, the cells were washed twice in FACS buffer before being acquired on an LSR II flow cytometer (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA) modified from the standard configuration by the addition of a 150-mW green (532-nm) diode laser and the upgrade of the blue and red lasers to 100 mW and 25 mW, respectively. The green diode was used for the excitation of all PE tandem conjugates. All flow cytometry data were analyzed using FlowJo software (Tree Star, San Carlos, CA). The gating strategy used is depicted in Fig. 1. A wide forward-scatter (FSC) versus side-scatter plot was used to define lymphocytes, followed by exclusion of cell conjugates by using an FSC-area versus FSC-height gate. T cells were selected by gating on CD3+ cells, followed by selection of CD8+ T cells by gating on CD8+ CD4 cells. IFN-
+ cells were defined using an allophycocyanin "fluorescence minus one" (FMO) sample. IFN-
+ and IFN-
cells were further analyzed for expression of T-cell memory markers in a CD45RA versus CCR7 plot. Quadrant gates were set using PE-Cy7 FMO and Pacific Blue FMO. TEM cell (CCR7 CD45RA) and HIV-1-specific CD8+ CCR7 CD45RA+ effector memory T cell (TEMRA cell) (CCR7 CD45RA+) populations were further analyzed for expression of CD57 and CD27. The gates for CD57 and CD27 were set using FITC FMO and PE FMO, respectively.
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FIG. 1. Gating strategy for phenotyping of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells. (A) T cells were selected based on CD3 expression. (B) CD8+ CD4 T cells were selected in a CD8 versus CD4 plot. (C) The allophycocyanin (APC) FMO sample was used to set the gate for (D) IFN- + CD8+ T cells. (E) The PE-Cy7 FMO sample and (F) the Pacific Blue FMO sample were used to set the gates for TEM (CD45RA CCR7) and TEMRA (CD45RA+ CCR7) CD8+ T cells. The expression levels of CCR7 and CD45RA were analyzed for (G) IFN- CD8+ T cells and (H) IFN- + CD8+ T cells. (I) The FITC FMO sample was used to set the gate for CD57+ cells. The expression of CD57 was analyzed for (J) HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells and (K) HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEM cells. FMO indicates a sample stained with all antibodies except the one indicated. ECD, energy-coupled dye.
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production to a pool of HIV-1 GAG-derived peptides (15-mer peptides overlapping by 11 amino acids, spanning the entire length of a consensus HIV-1 GAG sequence). The use of a peptide pool allowed us to identify HIV-1 GAG-specific CD8+ T cells recognizing an array of different epitopes within GAG, rather than only a few known conserved epitopes, as would be the case when using, e.g., HLA tetramers. It should be noted that we did not make use of individual autologous peptide pools for each patient, which might lead to an underestimation of the frequency of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells. We chose GAG as the antigen since several recent studies have indicated that CD8+ T-cell responses to HIV-1 GAG might be particularly relevant for control of HIV-1 viral replication (13, 15, 16). Ten treatment-naïve subjects with early HIV-1 infection were included in the study (Table 1). In addition to the overall magnitude of the HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell responses, we simultaneously determined the expression of CCR7, CD45RA, CD27, and CD57 on the HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells. The gating strategy used to identify HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells responding with IFN-
production and their phenotype is depicted in Fig. 1. |
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TABLE 1. Study subjects
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+ CD8+ T cells in samples cultured in medium alone was below 0.1%, and this was subtracted from the response to HIV-1 GAG. The HIV-1-specific responses thus calculated ranged from 0.1 to 1.8% of the CD8+ T cells (average of 0.44%), with responses being found in 9 of 10 subjects. The frequency of responding HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells was associated only weakly with the future viral load set point when analyzed by Spearman's correlation and linear regression (r = 0.60, P = 0.07) (Table 2 and Fig. 2A). In addition, we detected no significant relationship between the absolute number of responding HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells (per µl of blood) and the viral load set point (r = 0.57, P = 0.12) (Table 2 and Fig. 2B). However, these findings left open the possibility that other measurable aspects of the HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell response, including the contribution of key CD8+ memory T-cell subsets, could be linked to control of HIV-1. |
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TABLE 2. Statistical analysis linking the viral load set point with the HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell response early after infectiona
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FIG. 2. Occurrence of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells is linked to future viral control. (A) Percentage of CD8+ T cells responding with IFN- production in PBMC stimulated with HIV-1 GAG peptides versus future viral load set point. (B) Absolute number of CD8+ T cells per µl of blood responding with IFN- production in PBMC stimulated with HIV-1 GAG peptides versus future viral load set point. (C) Percentage of TEMRA cells (CCR7 CD45RA+) among HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells versus future viral load set point. (D) Absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells per µl of blood versus future viral load set point. (E) Percentage of TEM cells (CCR7 CD45RA) among HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells versus future viral load set point. (F) Absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEM cells per µl of blood versus future viral load set point. The correlations between the viral load set points and the HIV-specific CD8+ T-cell responses were tested by Spearman's test.
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However, several important caveats need to be addressed before this conclusion can be reached. First, it is known that the overall magnitude of the CMV-specific CD8+ T-cell response correlates with phenotype (9, 24). Therefore, a greater number of TEMRA cells may be linked with larger responses rather than directly with control of HIV-1 infection. In the current study, however, the fraction of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells displaying a TEMRA phenotype was linked with viral load set point independently of the magnitude of the overall HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell response, as tested by multivariate regression analysis (r = 0.053 ± 0.015 [standard error], P = 0.025) (Table 2).
Second, it is possible that the differentiation of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells progresses over time starting from the time of infection. Since the subjects included in the study were sampled at different stages of early infection, it remained possible that the frequency of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells displaying a TEMRA phenotype reflected the time since infection. However, we could not detect any correlation between the time since the estimated date of infection and the frequency of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells with a TEMRA phenotype (data not shown). This indicated that the timing of the sampling was not a key determinant of the frequency of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells displaying a TEMRA phenotype.
Finally, nearly all of the responding HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells displayed either a TEMRA or a TEM phenotype, and there was thus a close and inverse correlation between the two (r = 0.98, P < 0.0001). Therefore, a higher proportion of the response with a TEM phenotype was linked strongly and positively with a higher viral load set point (r = 0.82, P = 0.01) (Fig. 2E). It thus remained to be determined whether better viral control was associated with relative enrichment of the TEMRA cell subset or relative deficiency of the TEM cell subset.
The absolute number of HIV-1-specific TEMRA cells is inversely related to the viral load set point, and this is independent of the number of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEM cells. In an attempt to determine whether more HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells early in infection, rather than fewer HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEM cells, was predictive of future viral control, we compared the viral load set point with the absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA and TEM cells at study entry. We found that a higher absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells was strongly associated with a lower viral load set point (r = 0.70, P = 0.04) (Table 2 and Fig. 2D). In contrast, the absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEM cells was not related to the viral load set point (r = 0.45, P = 0.23) (Table 2 and Fig. 2F). Furthermore, the relationship between the absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells and the viral load set point was independent of the absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEM cells, as tested by multivariate regression analysis (0.263 lower log10 HIV-1 RNA per additional CD8+ TEMRA cell measured [per µl blood], P = 0.04) (Table 2). These results suggested that it is highly likely that TEMRA cells are directly beneficial to viral control.
Analysis of bulk CD8+ T cells from healthy individuals revealed that a fourfold- to fivefold-larger fraction of CD8+ TEMRA cells than CD8+ TEM cells contained perforin and granzyme (data not shown), a finding consistent with previous studies suggesting enhanced cytotoxic function for this subset (6, 7, 26). Together with the independent and apparently sustained effect of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells on viral load, these results further strengthened the proposed link between HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells and better viral control and the hypothesis that these cells have stronger antiviral activity in vivo.
CD57 is expressed by a larger fraction of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells than TEM cells. The maturation of CD8+ T cells has been described previously by use of several models, of which senescence, as measured by CD57 expression (5), and terminal differentiation, as indicated by TEMRA cell status (6), are commonly used. A larger fraction of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells than HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEM cells expressed CD57 (P = 0.004 by Wilcoxon matched-pairs test) in all except one individual (Fig. 3A). On average, 69% of the HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells expressed CD57, compared to 43% of the TEM cells, although a large amount of overlap in CD57 expression was seen.
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FIG. 3. CD57 is expressed by a larger fraction of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells than TEM cells. (A) Percentages of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEM and TEMRA cells that express CD57. Statistical significance was tested by the Wilcoxon matched-pairs test. (B) The absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEM cells correlates with the absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD57+ CD8+ cells (r = 0.77, P = 0.02), as tested by Spearman's test. (C) The absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells correlates with the absolute number of HIV-1-specific CD57+ CD8+ cells (r = 0.98, P < 0.0001), as tested by Spearman's test.
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Concluding remarks. One of the major goals of HIV research is to develop efficient and safe vaccines for use on a global scale. However, well-defined correlates of immune protection from natural infection with HIV-1, which is crucial for the development of such a vaccine, are lacking. Here, we present evidence indicating that higher HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cell numbers early in infection, in either absolute or relative terms, predict a lower future viral load set point. Although our results are limited by the modest sample size, our results suggests that therapies or vaccine regimens inducing HIV-1-specific CD8+ TEMRA cells may move us one step closer to the goal of durable control or prevention of HIV-1 infection.
Published ahead of print on 21 March 2007. ![]()
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