Longitudinal Study of Primary HIV-1 Isolates in Drug-Naïve Individuals Reveals the Emergence of Variants Sensitive to Anti-HIV-1 Monoclonal Antibodies

To study how virus evolution affects neutralization sensitivity and to determine changes that occur in and around epitopes, we tested the ability of 13 anti-HIV-1 gp120 (anti-V2, anti-V3, anti-CD4bd and anti-carbohydrate) human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to neutralize sequential viruses obtained from five HIV-1 chronically infected drug naïve individuals. Overall, primary viruses collected from patients at first visit were resistant to neutralization by all anti-HIV-1 mAbs with the exception of one virus sensitive to IgG1b12. Four of the five patients' viruses evolved increased sensitivity to neutralization by anti-V3 mAbs. Virus collected from a patient obtained 31 months later, evolved increased sensitivity to anti-V2, anti-V3, and anti-CD4bd mAbs. Furthermore, the anti-V2 and anti-CD4bd mAbs also exhibited increased neutralization capacities against virus collected from a patient 29 months later. Of the seven anti-V3 mAbs, five showed increased potency to neutralize the evolved virus from a patient collected after 11 months, and three exhibited increased potency against viruses from two patients collected 29 and 36 months later. Anti-V3 mAbs exhibited the most breadth and potency in neutralizing the evolving viruses. Sequence analysis of the envelope regions revealed amino acid conservation within the V3 loop, while most of the changes identified occurred outside the core epitopes and in particular within the C3 region; these may account for increased neutralization sensitivity. These studies demonstrate that in vivo, HIV-1 can evolve increased neutralization sensitivity to mAbs and that the spectrum of neutralization capacities by mAbs can be broader when studied in longitudinal analysis

Methamphetamine mediates immune dysregulation in a murine model of chronic viral infection

Methamphetamine (METH) is a highly addictive psychostimulant that not only affects the brain and cognitive functions but also greatly impacts the host immune system, rendering the body susceptible to infections and exacerbating the severity of disease. Although there is gathering evidence about METH abuse and increased incidence of HIV and other viral infections, not much is known about the effects on the immune system in a chronic viral infection setting. We have used the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) chronic mouse model of viral infection in a chronic METH environment and demonstrate that METH significantly increases CD3 marker on splenocytes and programmed death -1 (PD-1) expression on T cells, a cell surface signaling molecule known to inhibit T cell function and cause exhaustion in a lymphoid organ. Many of these METH effects were more pronounced during early stage of infection, which are gradually attenuated during later stages of infection. An essential cytokine for T-lymphocyte homeostasis, Interleukin-2 (IL-2) in serum was prominently reduced in METH-exposed infected mice. In addition, the serum pro-inflammatory (TNF, IL12 p70, IL1β, IL-6 and KC-GRO) and Th2 (IL-2, IL-10 and IL-4) cytokine profiles were also altered in the presence of METH. Interestingly CXCR3, an inflammatory chemokine receptor, showed significant increase in the METH treated LCMV infected mice. Similarly, compared to only infected mice, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in METH exposed LCMV infected mice were up regulated. Collectively, our data suggest that METH alters systemic, peripheral immune responses and modulates key markers on T cells involved in pathogenesis of chronic viral infection

Impaired Subset Progression and Polyfunctionality of T Cells in Mice Exposed to Methamphetamine during Chronic LCMV Infection

<div><p>Methamphetamine (METH) is a widely used psychostimulant that severely impacts the host’s innate and adaptive immune systems and has profound immunological implications. T cells play a critical role in orchestrating immune responses. We have shown recently how chronic exposure to METH affects T cell activation using a murine model of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection. Using the TriCOM (trinary state combinations) feature of GemStone^™ to study the polyfunctionality of T cells, we have analyzed how METH affected the cytokine production pattern over the course of chronic LCMV infection. Furthermore, we have studied in detail the effects of METH on splenic T cell functions, such as cytokine production and degranulation, and how they regulate each other. We used the Probability State Modeling (PSM) program to visualize the differentiation of effector/memory T cell subsets during LCMV infection and analyze the effects of METH on T cell subset progression. We recently demonstrated that METH increased PD-1 expression on T cells during viral infection. In this study, we further analyzed the impact of PD-1 expression on T cell functional markers as well as its expression in the effector/memory subsets. Overall, our study indicates that analyzing polyfunctionality of T cells can provide additional insight into T cell effector functions. Analysis of T cell heterogeneity is important to highlight changes in the evolution of memory/effector functions during chronic viral infections. Our study also highlights the impact of METH on PD-1 expression and its consequences on T cell responses.</p></div

Neutralization curves of anti-V2, anti-CD4bd, and anti-carbohydrate monoclonal antibodies against sequential viruses.

<p>Neutralization sensitivity of HIV-1 subtype B and CRF02_AG viruses obtained from patient ITM60 (a and b), NYU104 (c and d), 3506 (e and f), ITM27 (g and h), and ITM39 (i and j) with anti-V2, anti-CD4bd, and anti-carbohydrate monoclonal antibodies. The dash horizontal line represents 50% neutralization.</p

CD4 profile of HIV-1 infected study subjects.

<p>All the study subjects were asymptomatic. CD4 counts were determined by FACScan.</p

Neutralization curves of anti-V3 monoclonal antibodies against sequential viruses.

<p>Neutralization sensitivity of HIV-1 subtype B and CRF02_AG viruses obtained sequentially from patient ITM60 (a and b), NYU104 (c and d), 3506 (e and f), ITM27 (g and h), and ITM39 (i and j) with anti-V3 monoclonal antibodies. The dash horizontal line represents 50% neutralization.</p

C3 region sequences of the sequential viruses.

<p>The sequences shown represent the consensus sequence from 3–11 clones. The sequences were derived from the same aliquot of virus culture supernatant that was used in the neutralization assay.</p