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Updated: Sep 24, 2026

Preparation and Use of HIV-1 Infected Primary CD4+ T-Cells as Target Cells in Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxic Assays
Published on: March 14, 2011
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity is inversely correlated with HIV type 1
M R Betts1, J F Krowka, T B Kepler
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599, USA.
Abstract:
HIV-1-specific cytotoxic T cell (CTL) activity has been suggested to correlate with protection from progression to AIDS. We have examined the relationship between HIV-specific CTL activity and maintenance of peripheral blood CD4+ T lymphocyte counts and control of viral load in 17 long-term survivors (LTSs) of HIV-1 infection. Longitudinal analysis indicated that the LTS cohort demonstrated a decreased rate of CD4+ T cell loss (18 cells/mm3/year) compared with typical normal progressors (approximately 60 cells/mm3/year). The majority of the LTSs had detectable, variable, and in some individuals, quite high (>10(4) RNA copies/ml) plasma viral load during the study period. In a cross-sectional analysis, HIV-specific CTL activity to HIV Gag, Pol, and Env proteins was detectable in all 17 LTSs. Simultaneous analysis of HIV-1 Gag-Pol, and Env-specific CTLs and virus load in protease inhibitor-naive individuals showed a significant inverse correlation between Pol-specific CTL activity and plasma HIV-1 RNA levels (p = 0.001). Furthermore, using a mixed linear effects model the combined effects of HIV-1 Pol- and Env-specific CTL activity on the viral load were significantly stronger than the effects of HIV-1 Pol-specific CTL activity alone on predicted virus load. These data suggest that the presence of HIV-1-specific CTL activity in HIV-1-infected long-term survivors is an important component in the effective control of HIV-1 replication.
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