title: HIV-1 Nef enhances dendritic cell-mediated viral transmission to CD4+ T cells and promotes T-cell activation.
abstract: HIV-1 Nef enhances dendritic cell (DC)-mediated viral transmission to CD4(+) T cells, but the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. It is also unknown whether HIV-1 infected DCs play a role in activating CD4(+) T cells and enhancing DC-mediated viral transmission. Here we investigated the role of HIV-1 Nef in DC-mediated viral transmission and HIV-1 infection of primary CD4(+) T cells using wild-type HIV-1 and Nef-mutated viruses. We show that HIV-1 Nef facilitated DC-mediated viral transmission to activated CD4(+) T cells. HIV-1 expressing wild-type Nef enhanced the activation and proliferation of primary resting CD4(+) T cells. However, when co-cultured with HIV-1-infected autologous DCs, there was no significant trend for infection- or Nef-dependent proliferation of resting CD4(+) T cells. Our results suggest an important role of Nef in DC-mediated transmission of HIV-1 to activated CD4(+) T cells and in the activation and proliferation of resting CD4(+) T cells, which likely contribute to viral pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Center for Retrovirus Research, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America.
authors.forename: Corine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: St Gelais
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus