Flow cytometry-based detection of functional CCR5 variants: A scalable screening approach for HIV-resistant cord...

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can achieve durable HIV remission when donor cells exhibit reduced or absent C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) function, but CCR5Δ32/Δ32 donors are rare and cord blood banks (CBBs) do not routinely screen inventories for CCR5-deficient units. We evaluated a scalable flow cytometry-based phenotyping strategy to identify cord blood units (CBUs) with intrinsically reduced CCR5 surface expression and to determine whether low-expression phenotypes enrich for CCR5Δ32 and other CCR5 variants.

CCR5 (CD195) surface expression was quantified by flow cytometry on viable IFN-γ-stimulated CD14⁺ monocytes. Values were batch-normalized (Z-score), and low expressors were defined as Z < -1. Low CBUs were genotyped for CCR5Δ32 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and Δ32-negative CBUs underwent targeted sequencing of the CCR5 promoter and coding exons.

Of 179 CBUs, 27 (15.1%) were classified as Low CCR5 expressors. Batch-normalized CCR5 mean fluorescence intensity discriminated low from high phenotypes with high accuracy (area under the curve 0.9058; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.8490-0.9626; p < 0.0001). Assay repeatability showed intra-day coefficient of variation (CV) 7.00% and inter-day CV 13.65%. Among low CBUs (n = 27), PCR identified 12 wild-type/Δ32 and 3 Δ32/Δ32 genotypes, while 12 (44.4%) were non-Δ32. Sequencing of non-Δ32 low CBUs revealed multiple distinct genotypes, indicating genetic heterogeneity underlying reduced CCR5 expression.

A standardized, batch-normalized flow cytometry assay enables practical phenotypic screening of CBB inventories for reduced CCR5 expression and enriches for both CCR5Δ32 and diverse non-Δ32 variants. This phenotype-first strategy may complement targeted genotyping by identifying candidate HIV-resistant CBUs missed by Δ32-focused approaches.