To identify novel regulators of this process, we used next-generation sequencing to profile changes in microRNA expression occurring in purified human naive CD4 T cells in response to TCR stimulation and/or HIV infection.
These data suggest that the reconstitution of HIV-specific immunoreactive T cells engineered by genetic transfer of HIV-specific TCR is a potential alternative to immunotherapeutic applications against HIV infections.
The TCR Vbeta repertoire in adolescents is profoundly perturbed even in early stages of HIV infection, when total CD4(+) cell counts in most subjects are within normal limits.
TCR repertoire analysis for an HIV-immunodominant epitope revealed a highly conserved amino acid motif in the Dbeta region of TCR that recognizes the epitope and suggested that T cell precursor frequency influences which epitopes are targeted early in HIV infection.
The heterogeneity of the TCR V beta repertoire usage by the antigen specific CD8 T cells may reflect the dynamic interaction between host and pathogen during the course of HIV infection and may be influenced by the rate of viral mutation, CD4 T cell helper activity, or other factors.
Although skewing of the CD4+ TCR repertoire in advanced HIV infection is well documented, increases in polyclonality during antiretroviral therapy have been less consistently observed.