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Updated: Jun 4, 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
Polymorphisms in interferon regulatory factor 7 reduce interferon-α responses of plasmacytoid dendritic cells to
Judy Chang1, Robert J Lindsay, Smita Kulkarni
1Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
Abstract:
Recognition of HIV-1 ssRNA by Toll-like receptor 7 induces the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines that may contribute to the systemic immune activation associated with HIV-1 disease progression. Here, we describe a novel association between polymorphisms in interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7), a master regulator of interferon-α (IFN-α), and the ability of plasmacytoid dendritic cells to produce IFN-α in response to HIV-1. IRF7 polymorphisms may, therefore, affect the ability of individuals to respond to HIV-1 and modulate HIV-1 disease progression.
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