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Dryad

Deep phenotypic analysis of blood and lymphoid T and NK cells from HIV+ controllers and non-controllers

Cite this dataset

Roan, Nadia (2021). Deep phenotypic analysis of blood and lymphoid T and NK cells from HIV+ controllers and non-controllers [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.7272/Q6CV4FZJ

Abstract

T and natural killer (NK) cells are important effector cells with key roles in anti-HIV immunity, including in lymphoid tissues which is the major site of HIV persistence. In this study, we used 42-parameter CyTOF to conduct deep phenotyping of paired blood- and lymph node (LN)-derived T and NK cells from three groups of HIV+ aviremic individuals: elite controllers, and ART-suppressed individuals who had started therapy during chronic vs. acute infection, that latter of which are associated with improved treatment outcome. We found that acute-treated individuals are enriched for specific subsets of T and NK cells, including blood-derived CD56-CD16+ NK cells previously associated with HIV control, and LN-derived CD4+ T follicular helper cells with heightened expansion potential. An in-depth comparison of the features of the cells from blood vs. LN of individuals from our cohort revealed that T cells from blood were more activated than those from LNs. By contrast, LNs were enriched for follicle-homing CXCR5+ CD8+ T cells, which expressed increased levels of inhibitory receptors and markers of survival and proliferation as compared to their CXCR5- counterparts. In addition, a subset of memory-like CD56brightTCF1+ NK cells was enriched in LNs relative to blood. These results together suggest unique T and NK cell features in acute-treated individuals, and highlight the importance of examining effector cells not only in blood but also the lymphoid tissue compartment where the reservoir mostly persists, and where these cells take on distinct phenotypic features.