title: Pathogen-specific T cell depletion and reactivation of opportunistic pathogens in HIV infection.
abstract: During HIV infection, it is unclear why different opportunistic pathogens cause disease at different CD4 T cell count thresholds. Early work has shown that CD4 T cell depletion is influenced both by cellular activation status and expression of viral entry receptors. More recently, functional characteristics of the CD4 T cells, such as cytokine and chemokine production, have also been shown to influence cellular susceptibility to HIV. Here, we examine how functional differences in pathogen-specific CD4 T cells could lead to their differential loss during HIV infection. This may have implications for when different opportunistic infections occur, and a better understanding of the mechanisms for functional imprinting of antigen-specific T cells may lead to improvements in design of vaccines against HIV and opportunistic pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical Center of University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany. geldmacher@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geldmacher
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Koup
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D053586:Virus Internalization
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines