title: Apoptotic cell death and cytokine dysregulation in human immunodeficiency virus infection: pivotal factors in disease progression.
abstract: The progressive loss of CD4 T lymphocyte is patognomonic of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and results in immunodeficiency and the appearance of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining pathologies. Although a percentage of CD4 T lymphocytes is destroyed directly by HIV infection, a much higher proportion of lymphocytes remains uninfected and therefore must be destroyed by mechanisms not directly involving viral infection. One such mechanism is apoptotic T cell death (ATCD). ATCD in HIV infection has been shown to be: 1) secondary to cross-linking of CD4 by viral proteins; 2) mediated by both APO-1/Fas and lymphotoxin (LT); and 3) differentially modulated by type 1 and type 2 cytokines. We will briefly analyze the experimental evidences suggesting that ATCD contributes significantly to the immunopathogenesis of HIV/AIDS via depletion of CD4+ T cells.
authors.affiliation: Universita' degli Studi di Milano, Padiglione L.I.T.A., Ospedale L. Sacco, Via G.B. Grassi, 74, 20154, Milan, Italy. mago@imiucca.csi.unimi.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clerici
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sarin
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Henkart
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Shearer