ISBN-13: 9783639088892 / Angielski / Miękka / 2008 / 76 str.
The most widely accepted theory for the massive depletion of CD4+ T cells in HIV-1 infection involves depletion of non-infected cells through immune activation. A specialized cell population, the T regulatory cells (Tregs), exists to help limit chronic inflammation by suppressing the immune activation induced by infectious diseases. We used an SIV/pigtailed macaque model of HIV-1 disease to elucidate the role of Tregs in HIV-1-induced depletion of CD4+ T cells in lymphoid tissue during the acute phase of infection. From this model, we learned that Tregs play a significant role in controlling the apoptotic loss of CD4+ T cells resulting from high levels of generalized immune activation. Using assays developed in the macaque model, we next studied the role of Tregs in elite suppressors who are HIaV-1-infected individuals that maintain normal CD4+ T cell counts and control viremia without therapy. The assays developed in our laboratory should be especially useful to the future studies of both virologists and immunologists.
The most widely accepted theory for the massive depletion of CD4+ T cells in HIV-1 infection involves depletion of non-infected cells through immune activation. A specialized cell population, the T regulatory cells (Tregs), exists to help limit chronic inflammation by suppressing the immune activation induced by infectious diseases. We used an SIV/pigtailed macaque model of HIV-1 disease to elucidate the role of Tregs in HIV-1-induced depletion of CD4+ T cells in lymphoid tissue during the acute phase of infection. From this model, we learned that Tregs play a significant role in controlling the apoptotic loss of CD4+ T cells resulting from high levels of generalized immune activation. Using assays developed in the macaque model, we next studied the role of Tregs in elite suppressors who are HIaV-1-infected individuals that maintain normal CD4+ T cell counts and control viremia without therapy. The assays developed in our laboratory should be especially useful to the future studies of both virologists and immunologists.