Serial evolution of TCR beta chain transcript mobilization in HIV type-1-infected patients following vaccine immune...

In this article, we studied the T cell receptor (TCR)beta chain transcript mobilization in peripheral blood lymphocytes harvested from HIV-1-infected patients before and after vaccination with a mixture of six lipopeptides and at the moment and serially after highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) interruption. This study was performed by using a combined qualitative and quantitative assessment of Vbeta mRNA alterations at the level of complementary determining region 3 length distribution (CDR3-LD) of the TCR. Whereas healthy individuals displayed both stable CDR3-LD profiles and Vbeta transcript accumulations over time, the four HIV-1-infected patients in a quiescent disease phase under HAART have a highly significantly biased CDR3-LD. In addition, they displayed a significant further increase of alterations of their beta CDR3-LD profile after vaccination and both a more altered CDR3-LD (p < 0.05) and an increased transcript accumulation of some Vbeta families after HAART interruption. These modifications mostly concerned the CD8(+ve) T cells. Such a global approach of TCR alterations may help to follow the immune response of these patients and allow targeting of more complex in vivo studies by identifying the T cells with a selected repertoire.