Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a prevalent β-herpesvirus that persists asymptomatically in immunocompetent hosts. In people with HIV-1 (PWH), CMV is associated with HIV-1 persistence and particular inflammatory-related co-morbidities. The true causative role of CMV in HIV-associated pathologies however remains unclear given that nearly all PWH are coinfected with CMV. In this study, we examined acute phase immune and virological dynamics in cohorts of SIV-infected rhesus macaques (RMs) that were naturally seropositive or -negative for rhesus CMV (RhCMV). We observed prior to SIV, RhCMV expanded a polyclonal population of target CCR5+CD4+ T cells in gut and lymph nodes (LN) that expressed the chemotactic receptor CXCR3 and were largely not specific for RhCMV. Upon SIV infection, RhCMV+ RMs exhibited higher peak viremia and elevated levels of SIV DNA in the upper and lower intestine. Greater seeding of SIV DNA was associated with a maintenance of CCR5-expressing CD4+ T cells that were enriched within the RhCMV+ gut along a CXCR3-CXCL9 chemotactic axis. Overall, the data suggest that RhCMV can promote SIV susceptibility within a diverse, polyclonal pool of CD4 T cells that are not entirely RhCMV-specific.
Chrysostomos Perdios, Naveen Suresh Babu, Celeste D. Coleman, Anna T. Brown, Shevon N. Alexander, Matilda J. Moström, Carolina Allers, Lara Doyle-Meyers, Christine M. Fennessey, Lori A. Rowe, Brandon F. Keele, Amitinder Kaur, Michael L. Freeman, Joseph C. Mudd
This file is in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. If you have not installed and configured the Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system.
PDFs are designed to be printed out and read, but if you prefer to read them online, you may find it easier if you increase the view size to 125%.
Many versions of the free Acrobat Reader do not allow Save. You must instead save the PDF from the JCI Online page you downloaded it from. PC users: Right-click on the Download link and choose the option that says something like "Save Link As...". Mac users should hold the mouse button down on the link to get these same options.