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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Assessing the Innate Sensing of HIV-1 Infected CD4+ T Cells by Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Using an Ex vivo Co-culture System.
Published on: September 1, 2015
Exogenous HIV-1 Vpr disrupts IFN-alpha response by plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and subsequent pDC/NK
Henoch Sangjoon Hong1, Nupur Bhatnagar, Matthias Ballmaier
1Clinic for Immunology und Rheumatology, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, Hannover, Germany.
Abstract:
HIV Vpr is known for its immunomodulatory capacities including its impairment of NK cell functions. However, the role of pDCs in this context remains elusive. We show that synthetic Vpr substantially inhibits type I IFN production by pDCs without inducing apoptosis in pDCs. Furthermore, we found that exogenous Vpr compromises subsequent pDC/NK interplay as shown by diminished IFN-gamma production by NK cells. Thus, Vpr-mediated dysregulation of IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma production affects key components of the innate immune response supporting an essential role of Vpr in HIV pathogenesis.
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