Phosphorylation of STAT3 within Th17 cells in response to IL-23 is inhibited by <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> HIV infection and is not restored by HAART.
<p>Blood-derived Th17 cells from healthy donors were infected with HIV for 24 hours. Input virus was washed out, and cells were stimulated with IL-23 or IL-6 for 15 minutes. <b>(A)</b> Representative histograms showing STAT3 phosphorylation in response to IL-23 or IL-6 in HIV-infected and uninfected Th17 cells. <b>(B)</b> Summary of frequency of Th17 cells responding to IL-23 or IL-6 by phosphorylation of STAT3 (%pSTAT3+). * p = 0.001, n = 5. <b>(C)</b> Representative histograms demonstrating STAT3 phosphorylation following IL-23 (top) and IL-6 (bottom) stimulation in Th17 cells isolated from patients and healthy controls. <b>(D)</b> Summary of IL-23 induced pSTAT3 responses in circulating Th17 cells from HIV seronegative, HIV-infected untreated and HIV-infected HAART donors (* p < 0.001, n = 7) and IL-6-induced pSTAT3 responses in Th17 cells isolated from HIV infected donors.</p
