title: Highly-Exposed HIV-1 seronegative Female Commercial Sex Workers sustain in their genital mucosa increased frequencies of tolerogenic myeloid and regulatory T-cells.
abstract: We and others have shown that HIV-1 highly-exposed seronegative (HESN) female commercial sex workers (CSWs) maintain low genital inflammatory conditions to prevent HIV infection. HIV-1 interacts with toll-like receptors (TLR)-7/8 to induce interferon (IFN)-α, an important antiviral and immunomodulatory cytokine, which act together with interleukin (IL)-10, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G and immunoglobulin-like transcript (ILT)-4 to initiate a "tolerogenic/regulatory" anti-inflammatory loop. In view of further unravelling elements associated with natural immunity to HIV-1, we have characterised TLR-7, IFN-α, IL-10, HLA-G and ILT-4 expression profiles in the genital tract of female CSWs and HIV-1-uninfected non-CSWs from Benin. Endocervical myeloid HLA-DR+cells from HESN CSWs expressed higher levels of IFN-α, TLR-7, IL-10 and HLA-G than those from both HIV-1-infected CSWs and HIV-1-uninfected non-CSWs. Further characterization of the endocervical myeloid HLA-DR+cells in HESN CSWs revealed a population of "tolerogenic" CD103+CD14+CD11c+myeloid cells expressing high levels of IFN-α and IL-10. Concomitantly, HESN CSWs had higher frequencies of endocervical regulatory CD4+T-cells when compared to those from the two other groups of women. These novel findings provide strong evidence to support the implication of tolerogenic myeloid cells expressing high levels of antiviral molecules in shaping the genital mucosal immune response to prevent HIV infection.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'immunogénétique, Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montréal, Canada.|Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Thibodeau
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'immunogénétique, Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montréal, Canada.|Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fourcade
authors.affiliation: Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: A-C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Labbé
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec, Canada.|Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alary
authors.affiliation: Dispensaire des IST, Cotonou, Benin.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guédou
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'immunogénétique, Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montréal, Canada.|Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poudrier
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'immunogénétique, Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montréal, Canada.|Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001541:Benin; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D018023:HIV Seronegativity / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D022423:Myeloid Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011477:Sex Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines