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Background The role of the adenosine (ADO) suppression pathway, specifically CD39-expressing and CD73-expressing CD4+ T cells in HIV-1 infection is unclear. Methods We evaluated the frequency and numbers of CD4+CD39+ and CD4+CD73+ T cells, activated T cells, and plasma C reactive protein (CRP) levels in 36 HIV-1-positive individuals and 10 normal controls (NC). Low-level plasma viremia was evaluated using single copy assay. Mass spectrometry was used to measure hydrolysis of ATP by ectoenzyme-expressing CD4+ T cells, whereas cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels were measured using enzyme immunoassay. Suppression of T-cell function by exogenous ADO and CD4+CD73+ T cells was tested by flow cytometry. Results CD39 and CD73 are expressed in different CD4+ T-cell subsets. CD4+CD73+ T cells do not express CD25 and FOXP3, and their frequency and numbers were lower in HIV-1-positive individuals regardless of virologic suppression (P = 0.005 and P < 0.001, respectively). CD4+CD73+ numbers inversely correlated with CD4+CD38+DR+ (P = 0.002), CD8+CD38+DR+ T-cell frequency (P = 0.05), and plasma CRP levels (P = 0.01). Both subsets are required for hydrolysis of exogenous ATP to ADO and can increase CD4+ T-cell cAMP levels when incubated with exogenous ATP. Low-level viremia did not correlate with activated T-cell frequency. In vitro, ADO suppressed T-cell activation and cytokine expression. CD4+CD73+ T cells suppressed T-cell proliferation only in the presence of exogenous 5′-AMP. Conclusion The ADO-producing CD4+CD73+ subset of T cells is depleted in HIV-1-positive individuals regardless of viral suppression and may play a key role in controlling HIV-1-associated immune activation.

Drosophila X chromosomes are disproportionate sources of duplicated genes, and these duplications are usually the result of retrotransposition of X-linked genes to the autosomes. The excess duplication is thought to be driven by natural selection for two reasons: X chromosomes are inactivated during spermatogenesis, and the derived copies of retroposed duplications tend to be testis expressed. Therefore, autosomal derived copies of retroposed genes provide a mechanism for their X-linked paralogs to "escape" X inactivation. Once these duplications have fixed, they may then be selected for male-specific functions. Throughout the evolution of the Drosophila genus, autosomes have fused with X chromosomes along multiple lineages giving rise to neo-X chromosomes. There has also been excess duplication from the two independent neo-X chromosomes that have been examined--one that occurred prior to the common ancestor of the willistoni species group and another that occurred along the lineage leading to Drosophila pseudoobscura. To determine what role natural selection plays in the evolution of genes duplicated from the D. pseudoobscura neo-X chromosome, we analyzed DNA sequence divergence between paralogs, polymorphism within each copy, and the expression profiles of these duplicated genes. We found that the derived copies of all duplicated genes have elevated nonsynonymous polymorphism, suggesting that they are under relaxed selective constraints. The derived copies also tend to have testis- or male-biased expression profiles regardless of their chromosome of origin. Genes duplicated from the neo-X chromosome appear to be under less constraints than those duplicated from other chromosome arms. We also find more evidence for historical adaptive evolution in genes duplicated from the neo-X chromosome, suggesting that they are under a unique selection regime in which elevated nonsynonymous polymorphism provides a large reservoir of functional variants, some of which are fixed by natural selection.

Quantification of plasma HIV-1 RNA below the limit of FDA-approved assays by a single copy quantitative PCR assays (SCA) has provided significant insights into HIV-1 persistence despite potent antiretroviral therapy as well as a means to assess the impact of therapeutic strategies, such as treatment intensification, on residual viremia. In this review, we discuss insights gained from plasma HIV-1 RNA SCA and highlight the need for additional assays to characterize better the cellular and tissue reservoirs of HIV-1. Accurate, reproducible, and sensitive assays to quantify HIV-1 reservoirs, before and after therapeutic interventions, are essential tools in the quest for a cure of HIV-1 infection.

Background Combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppresses HIV-1 replication, but does not restore CD4+ T-cell counts in all subjects. To investigate the effects of maraviroc on HIV-1 persistence and the relations between virologic and immunologic parameters in subjects with incomplete CD4+ T-cell recovery, we performed a prospective, open-label pilot trial in which maraviroc was added to a suppressive ART regimen for 24 weeks. Design A5256 was a single-arm trial in which subjects on suppressive ART with incomplete CD4+ T-cell recovery added maraviroc for 24 weeks. Methods We quantified low-level, residual viremia in plasma and total HIV-1 DNA and 2-LTR circles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells before and after maraviroc intensification. We also evaluated markers of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell immune activation (%CD38+HLA-DR+) and apoptosis (%caspase3+/Bcl-2−). Results No effect of maraviroc was found on the probability of detectable plasma viremia (≥1 copy/mL; n=31, exact McNemar p=1.0) or detectable 2-LTR circles (n=28, p=0.25) or on total HIV-1 DNA (n=28, 90% confidence interval: −0.1, +0.3 log10 copies/106 CD4+ T-cells). Pre-maraviroc HIV-1 DNA levels were inversely related to pre-maraviroc %CD38+HLA-DR+ CD4+ T-cells (Spearman=−0.52, p=0.004), and lower pre-maraviroc HIV-1 DNA levels were associated with larger decreases in %CD38+HLA-DR+ CD4+ T-cells during maraviroc intensification (Spearman=0.44, p=0.018). Conclusions In subjects on suppressive ART with incomplete CD4+ T-cell recovery, maraviroc intensification did not affect measures of HIV-1 persistence but did decrease persistent CD4+ T-cell immune activation especially in subjects with low pre-intensification levels of HIV-1 DNA.

Interleukin-15 (IL-15) has been demonstrated to play a critical role in the regulation of natural killer (NK) cells. IL-15 induces the differentiation of NK cells from hematopoietic progenitors, stimulates the expansion of peripheral NK cells, and supports their survival. We investigated the role of IL-15 as a homeostatic regulator of NK cells in 29 patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and the potential role of IL-15 in enhancing the anti-tumor activity of NK cells in AML patients. The percentage of circulating NK cells was lower (p&lt;0.0001) in the AML patients (6%± 0.7, range 1–17%) compared to the NK cells of healthy donors (12%± 1, range 9–17 %). At diagnosis the mean level of IL-15 in patient plasma was 1.9 pg/ml (range 0.03–8.9) and increased (p &lt;0.02) to 5.2 pg/ml (range 0.06–13.4) after the completion of induction chemotherapy, when the NK levels had been reduced to zero cells/microliter. The mean level of IL-15 subsequently decreased to pre-treatment levels in the AML patients who achieved complete remission (mean 1.6 pg/ml, range 0.4–2.3). To assess effects of IL-15 on the NK cytotoxicity, we sorted NK cells from PBMC obtained from AML patients prior to treatment (at diagnosis) and cultured them in the presence of IL-15. Following IL-15 stimulation, a significant increase in NK-cell cytotoxicity against K562 targets and the patients’ autologous leukemic blasts was observed (p&lt;0.05) as was up-regulation in expression of the activating natural cytotoxicity receptors, NKp30 and NKp46 and the C-type lectin receptors NKG2D and NKG2C (p&lt;0.02–0.001). Addition of blocking antibodies to the activating receptors reduced NK-cell cytotoxicity. We determined that IL-15, a homeostatic NK-cell cytokine, increases after severe depletion of NK cells following intensive chemotherapy and this leads to increased NK-cell lytic activity in AML patients. These data suggest that modulation of IL-15 levels in AML could be therapeutically beneficial as IL-15 enhances NK-cell recovery following intensive chemotherapy and increases NK-cell anti-tumor activity.