title: Progressive telomere shortening of Epstein-Barr virus-specific memory T cells during HIV infection: contributor to exhaustion?
abstract: Individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have low numbers of functional Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific CD8+ T cells in the face of a high EBV load, suggesting that these cells have become exhausted. We investigated whether the observed chronic EBV loads during HIV infection could cause exhaustion of EBV-specific T cells by using flow-FISH (flow cytometry in combination with fluorescence in situ hybridization) to analyze the telomere length of EBV-specific CD8+ T cells. Enhanced telomere shortening of EBV-specific T cells was observed during HIV infection, compared with the decline in telomere length observed in the CD8+ T cells of healthy subjects. Thus, chronic exposure to high antigen levels may lead to the progressive shortening of telomeres of antigen-specific T cells, which may impair viral control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. d.vanbaarle@umcutrecht.nl
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Baarle
authors.forename: Nening M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Nanlohy
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.forename: Fiona J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Plunkett
authors.forename: Jean M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: Arne N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Akbar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory / Q000276:immunology*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology*; D016615:Telomere / Q000502:physiology*; D019562:Viral Load; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral