Conserved T cell receptor repertoire in SIVmac-infected rhesus monkeys.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1994. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Conserved T cell receptor repertoire in SIVmac-infected rhesus monkeys.

Symp Nonhum Primate Models AIDS. 1993 Sep 19-22;11:abstract no. 25. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE PRIM11/94191618
Chen ZW; Kou ZC; Shen L; Reimann KA; Letvin NL; Harvard Medical School, New England Regional Primate Research; Center, Southborough, MA 01772.

Abstract: Studies to assess the possibility that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may encode a superantigen that plays a role in the depletion of functional CD4+ lymphocytes in the infected individual have yielded discrepant results. The problem in performing conclusive examinations of this issue may be attributed, at least in part, to the difficulty of prospectively studying individuals from prior to their infection until the time of profound CD4+ lymphocyte loss. We have employed the simian immunodeficiency virus of macaque (SIVmac)-infected rhesus monkey to determine whether the AIDS virus acts as a superantigen in depleting CD4+ lymphocytes. Rhesus monkeys were experimentally infected with SIVmac and studied prospectively. A PCR-based quantitative method for assessing T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire was employed to analyze the expression of 24 V beta and 30 V alpha gene families in the monkeys. Although circulating PBL were increased in number by 3 weeks following SIVmac infection, the expanded lymphocyte populations exhibited no perturbation in their TCR V beta repertoires. PBL obtained from monkeys prior to and 0.5 to 3 years after infection displayed no significant change in V beta and V alpha gene family expression. Finally, no deletion of V beta-expressing cell subpopulations could be demonstrated in purified CD4+ lymphocytes from infected monkeys. This was true even for monkeys whose blood contained less than 50 CD4+ lymphocytes/ul. These results indicate that the TCR repertoire is conserved in SIVmac-infected rhesus monkeys and suggests that mechanisms other than superantigen-induced deletion must be responsible for CD4+ lymphocyte loss in these animals.

Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/IMMUNOLOGY Animal Antigens, CD4/ANALYSIS Genes, Reiterated Human HIV/IMMUNOLOGY Lymphocyte Depletion Macaca mulatta Polymerase Chain Reaction/METHODS Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta/*ANALYSIS/GENETICS Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*IMMUNOLOGY Spleen/IMMUNOLOGY SIV/*IMMUNOLOGY T-Lymphocyte Subsets/IMMUNOLOGY T-Lymphocytes/IMMUNOLOGY ABSTRACT
940730
M9470900

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