Diminished CD103 (αEβ7) Expression on Resident T Cells from the Female Genital Tract of HIV-Positive Women.
BACKGROUND
Tissue resident memory T cells (TrM) provide an enhanced response against infection at mucosal surfaces, yet their function has not been extensively studied in humans, including the female genital tract (FGT).


METHODS
Using polychromatic flow cytometry, we studied TrM cells, defined as CD62L-CCR7-CD103+CD69+CD4+and CD8+T cells in mucosa-derived T cells from healthy and HIV-positive women.


RESULTS
We demonstrate that TrM are present in the FGT of healthy and HIV-positive women. The expression of the mucosal retention receptor, CD103, from HIV-positive women was reduced compared to healthy women and was lowest in women with CD4 counts < 500 cells/mm3. Furthermore, CD103 expression on mucosa-derived CD8+T cells correlated with antigen-specific IFN-γ production by mucosal CD4+T cells and was inversely correlated with T-bet from CD8+CD103+mucosa-derived T cells.


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that CD4+T cells, known to be impaired during HIV-1 infection and necessary for the expression of CD103 in murine models, may play a role in the expression of CD103 on resident T cells from the human FGT.
Departments of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
David C
DC
Moylan
Departments of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Paul A
PA
Goepfert
School of Nursing and Department of Health Behavior, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Mirjam-Colette
MC
Kempf
Departments of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Michael S
MS
Saag
Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Holly E
HE
Richter
Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Jiri
J
Mestecky
Departments of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Steffanie
S
Sabbaj
CD103; CD4 T cells; CD8+ T cells; HIV-1; Tissue Resident Memory T cells; female genital tract; mucosal immunity