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Picton ACP, Paximadis M, Koor GW, Bharuthram A, Shalekoff S, Lassauniere R, Ive P, Tiemessen CT. Reduced CCR5 Expression and Immune Quiescence in Black South African HIV-1 Controllers. Front Immunol 2021; 12:781263. [PMID: 34987508 PMCID: PMC8720782 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.781263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Unique Individuals who exhibit either suppressive HIV-1 control, or the ability to maintain low viral load set-points and preserve their CD4+ T cell counts for extended time periods in the absence of antiretroviral therapy, are broadly termed HIV-1 controllers. We assessed the extent to which black South African controllers (n=9), differ from uninfected healthy controls (HCs, n=22) in terms of lymphocyte and monocyte CCR5 expression (density and frequency of CCR5-expressing cells), immune activation as well as peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) mitogen-induced chemokine/cytokine production. In addition, relative CD4+ T cell CCR5 mRNA expression was assessed in a larger group of controllers (n=20) compared to HCs (n=10) and HIV-1 progressors (n=12). Despite controllers having significantly higher frequencies of activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (HLA-DR+) compared to HCs, CCR5 density was significantly lower in these T cell populations (P=0.039 and P=0.064, respectively). This lower CCR5 density was largely attributable to controllers with higher VLs (>400 RNA copies/ml). Significantly lower CD4+ T cell CCR5 density in controllers was maintained (P=0.036) when HCs (n=12) and controllers (n=9) were matched for age. CD4+ T cell CCR5 mRNA expression was significantly less in controllers compared to HCs (P=0.007) and progressors (P=0.002), whereas HCs and progressors were similar (P=0.223). The levels of soluble CD14 in plasma did not differ between controllers and HCs, suggesting no demonstrable monocyte activation. While controllers had lower monocyte CCR5 density compared to the HCs (P=0.02), significance was lost when groups were age-matched (P=0.804). However, when groups were matched for both CCR5 promoter haplotype and age (n=6 for both) reduced CCR5 density on monocytes in controllers relative to HCs was highly significant (P=0.009). Phytohemagglutinin-stimulated PBMCs from the controllers produced significantly less CCL3 (P=0.029), CCL4 (P=0.008) and IL-10 (P=0.028) compared to the HCs, which was largely attributable to the controllers with lower VLs (<400 RNA copies/ml). Our findings support a hypothesis of an inherent (genetic) predisposition to lower CCR5 expression in individuals who naturally control HIV-1, as has been suggested for Caucasian controllers, and thus, likely involves a mechanism shared between ethnically divergent population groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anabela C. P. Picton
- Centre for HIV and STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Maria Paximadis
- Centre for HIV and STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Virology, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- *Correspondence: Maria Paximadis,
| | - Gemma W. Koor
- Centre for HIV and STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Virology, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Avani Bharuthram
- Centre for HIV and STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Virology, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Sharon Shalekoff
- Centre for HIV and STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Virology, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Ria Lassauniere
- Virus Research and Development Laboratory, Department of Virus and Microbiological Special Diagnostics, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Prudence Ive
- Department of Virology, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Clinical HIV Research Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Caroline T. Tiemessen
- Centre for HIV and STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Virology, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Koor GW, Paximadis M, Picton ACP, Karatas F, Loubser SA, He W, Ahuja SK, Chaisson RE, Martinson N, Ebrahim O, Tiemessen CT. Cis-regulatory genetic variants in the CCR5 gene and natural HIV-1 control in black South Africans. Clin Immunol 2019; 205:16-24. [PMID: 31100442 DOI: 10.1016/j.clim.2019.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2019] [Revised: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 05/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Studies have investigated CCR5 haplotypes (HHA, HHB, HHC, HHD, HHE, HHF*1, HHF*2, HHG*1, HHG*2), defined by seven 5'UTR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), CCR2-V64I and CCR5Δ32, in HIV-1 disease. CCR5 cis-regulatory regions were sequenced, CCR2-V64I and CCR5Δ32 genotyped, and compared in HIV-1-infected black South Africans: 71 HIV-1 controllers (23 elite controllers, 37 viraemic controllers (VCs), 11 high viral load long-term non-progressors) and 74 progressors. The HHE haplotype and 3'UTR +2919 T > G SNP heterozygosity were underrepresented in total controllers and VCs vs. progressors (p = .004; p = .007 and p = .002, pbonferroni = 0.032; p = .004, respectively). Possession of the +2919 T > G SNP (dominant mode) was associated with HIV-1 progression (controllers vs. progressors: p = .001, pbonferroni = 0.016). The +2919 T > G SNP is in linkage disequilibrium (LD; r2 = 0.73) with two 5'UTR SNPs (-2459G > A and -2135 T > C; r2 = 1: 5'UTR-2SNP-hap). The 5'UTR-2SNP-hap was lower in total controllers and VCs vs. progressors (p = .003, pbonferroni = 0.048; p = .01, respectively). Results suggest -2459G > A, -2135 T > C, and + 2919 T > G as key CCR5 variants in HIV-1 control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gemma W Koor
- Centre for HIV & STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa; School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Maria Paximadis
- Centre for HIV & STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa; School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
| | - Anabela C P Picton
- Centre for HIV & STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa; School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Fidan Karatas
- Centre for HIV & STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa; School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Shayne A Loubser
- Centre for HIV & STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa; School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Weijing He
- Veterans Administration Research Center for AIDS and HIV-1 Infection, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, United States of America; Center for Personalized Medicine, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, United States of America; Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, United States of America
| | - Sunil K Ahuja
- Veterans Administration Research Center for AIDS and HIV-1 Infection, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, United States of America; Center for Personalized Medicine, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, United States of America; Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, United States of America; Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, United States of America
| | - Richard E Chaisson
- Johns Hopkins University Center for AIDS Research, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Neil Martinson
- Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Medical Research Council Soweto Matlosana Centre for HIV/AIDS and TB Research, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Osman Ebrahim
- School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Caroline T Tiemessen
- Centre for HIV & STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa; School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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