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Updated: May 9, 2026
Analysis of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-specific CD8+ T-cells in Rhesus Macaques by Peptide-MHC-I Tetramer Staining
Published on: December 23, 2016
SIV infection of rhesus macaques differentially impacts mononuclear phagocyte responses to virus-derived TLR agonists
Elizabeth R Wonderlich1, Simon M Barratt-Boyes
1Center for Vaccine Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Background:
During progressive simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection, the ability of innate mononuclear phagocytes to function when responding to the invading pathogen has yet to be determined.
Methods:
We generated single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) oligonucleotides from the infecting strain of virus and utilized them to stimulate mononuclear phagocytes from blood and lymph nodes of naïve and SIVmac251-infected rhesus macaques.
Results:
Soon after infection and continuing through to chronic disease, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC), monocytes, and macrophages from SIV-infected macaques were less able to produce pro-inflammatory cytokines after exposure to virus-derived toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists. In contrast, myeloid dendritic cells (mDC) became hyper-responsive during acute and stable chronic infection.
Conclusions:
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells, monocytes, and macrophages may not instigate continued immune activation by recognizing the single-stranded RNA from SIV as they are left dysfunctional after infection. Conversely, mDC functionality may be beneficial as their hyper-responsiveness is related to slowed disease progression.
