Low perforin and elevated SHIP-1 expression is associated with functional anergy of natural killer cells in chronic HIV-1 infection
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Updated: Aug 7, 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
Galit Alter1, Todd J Suscovich, Marianna Kleyman
1Partners AIDS Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Division of AIDS, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract:
Natural killer (NK) cells are critical for the first-line defense in infection. Treated viremic HIV-1 infection is associated with the expansion of an anergic subset of CD3-CD56-CD16+ NK cells unable to respond to stimulation with MHC-devoid target cells or with mitogens. These CD3-CD56-CD16+ NK cells expressed SHIP-1 and had significantly reduced perforin levels. This observation suggests a mechanism for the reduced functional activity of CD3-CD56-CD16+ NK cells in chronic HIV-1 infection.
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