Different human resting memory CD4 <sup>+</sup> T cell subsets show similar low inducibility of latent HIV-1 proviruses
Kyungyoon J. Kwon, Andrew E. Timmons, Srona Sengupta, Francesco R. Simonetti, Hao Zhang, Rebecca Hoh, Steven G. Deeks, Janet D. Siliciano, Robert F. Siliciano
Abstract
T cells from 10 HIV-1-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy. On average, only 1.7% of intact proviruses across all T cell subsets were induced to transcribe viral genes and release replication-competent virus after stimulation of the cells. We found no consistent enrichment of intact or inducible proviruses in any T cell subset. Furthermore, we observed notable plasticity among the canonical memory T cell subsets after activation in vitro and saw substantial person-to-person variability in the inducibility of infectious virus release. This finding complicates the vision for a targeted approach for HIV-1 cure based on T cell memory subsets.