Interleukin-12p70 Expression by Dendritic Cells of HIV-1-Infected Patients Fails to Stimulate gag-Specific Immune Responses

A variety of immune-based therapies has been developed in order to boost or induce protective CD8+ T cell responses in order to control HIV replication. Since dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) with the unique capability to stimulate naïve T cells into effector T...

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Main Authors: Ellen Van Gulck, Nathalie Cools, Derek Atkinson, Lotte Bracke, Katleen Vereecken, Marc Vekemans, Viggo F. I. Van Tendeloo, Zwi N. Berneman, Guido Vanham
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-01-01
Series:Clinical and Developmental Immunology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/184979
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Summary:A variety of immune-based therapies has been developed in order to boost or induce protective CD8+ T cell responses in order to control HIV replication. Since dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) with the unique capability to stimulate naïve T cells into effector T cells, their use for the induction of HIV-specific immune responses has been studied intensively. In the present study we investigated whether modulation of the activation state of DCs electroporated with consensus codon-optimized HxB2 gag mRNA enhances their capacity to induce HIV gag-specific T cell responses. To this end, mature DCs were (i) co-electroporated with mRNA encoding interleukin (IL)-12p70 mRNA, or (ii) activated with a cytokine cocktail consisting of R848 and interferon (IFN)-γ. Our results confirm the ability of HxB2 gag-expressing DCs to expand functional HIV-specific CD8+ T cells. However, although most of the patients had detectable gag-specific CD8+ T cell responses, no significant differences in the level of expansion of functional CD8+ T cells could be demonstrated when comparing conventional or immune-modulated DCs expressing IL-12p70. This result which goes against expectation may lead to a re-evaluation of the need for IL-12 expression by DCs in order to improve T-cell responses in HIV-1-infected individuals.
ISSN:1740-2522
1740-2530