CD8+ T-cells are a critical component of the cellular immune response and they play an important role in the control of viral infection. During HIV infection, CD8+ T-cells are able to recognize infected cells through an MHC-I dependent process and are able to lyse cells harboring viral infection by the secretion of perforin and granzymes. These cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) can also eliminate virally infected cells through the engagement of death-inducing ligands expressed by CD8+ T-cells with death receptors on the surface of the infected cell. In addition, CD8+ CTL secrete soluble factors such as beta-chemokines and the CD8+ antiviral factor (CAF) that suppress viral binding and transcription, respectively. In order for HIV to survive the pressures placed upon it by the immune system, the virus has adopted numerous strategies to evade the CD8+ T-cell response. The high mutation rate of HIV has allowed the virus to escape CD8+ T-cell recognition in addition to its ability to down-regulate surface MHC-I expression from infected cells. Also, by altering the pattern of cytokine production and engagement of cellular receptors, HIV disrupts proper CD8+ T-cell signaling. The resultant improper T-cell receptor (TcR) stimulation creates an anergic state in these cells. By affecting the function of CD4+ T-cells and antigen presenting cells that are required for proper CD8+ T-cell maturation, HIV is able to decrease the circulating pool of effector and memory CD8+ T-cells that are able to combat viral infection. The end result is the aberration of CD8+ T-cell function.

This study set out to determine whether T cell dysfunction associated with HTLV-I led to increased sensitivity of infected cells to apoptosis or, owing to their potential to develop ATL, if infected cells would become resistant to this process. To test this hypothesis we utilized the monoclonal antibody anti-APO-1, which has been demonstrated to induce apoptosis in human T cells. Human T cell lines expressing HTLV-I showed reduced susceptibility to anti-APO-1-induced apoptosis despite expression of high levels of cell surface APO-1. Cell-free supernatant of the Tax-expressing cell line C8166 and heat-inactivated supernatant of the HTLV-I-producing cell line MT2 transferred increased resistance to anti-APO-1 to susceptible Jurkat T cells. Susceptible T cells transfected with an HTLV-I Tax-expressing vector or treated with soluble Tax protein became less susceptible to anti-APO-1-induced cell death. Furthermore, primary human lymphocytes treated with soluble Tax were less susceptible to apoptosis induced by anti-APO-1. The protective effect of Tax in T cell lines and primary human lymphocytes was reversed by the addition of anti-Tax antibodies. Anti-APO-1-induced apoptosis was also found to be inhibited in Jurkat cells by the induction of protein kinase C (PKC) with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Resistance to apoptosis conferred by HTLV-I Tax and an active PKC pathway may be factors contributing to the survival of dysregulated HTLV-I-infected T cells prone to the development of adult T cell leukemia.

CD8+ T lymphocytes of HIV-1-infected individuals can efficiently suppress HIV-1 replication in CD4+ T lymphocytes. To elucidate the molecular events underlying this suppression, we have used the HIV-1 LTR directing the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene (CAT) in transient transfection assays using human Jurkat T cells. In addition to supernatants of patient CD8+ T lymphocytes (CD4+ > 350/microliters), supernatant of a T cell clone derived by Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS)-mediated transformation of CD8+ T lymphocytes of a patient demonstrating inhibition of virus replication were examined. Similar levels of inhibition of LTR-mediated gene expression in response to Tat or mitogenic activation with phorbol ester and calcium ionophore were observed by supernatants of both sources. The inhibitory effect of CD8+ T lymphocytes was not exclusive to lentiviral LTRs since transcription of both the HTLV-I LTR and RSV LTR in response to mitogen was effectively inhibited. In examination of the influence of CD8+ T cell-derived supernatant on NF kappa B-mediated activation, a dimer of the HIV-1 NF kappa B elements directing CAT was markedly inhibited by supernatants of both patient CD8+ lymphocytes and the HVS-derived CD8+ clone. Thus the inhibitory nature of CD8+ T lymphocytes appears not to be specific to lentiviral promoters and may mediate an inhibitory effect via the NF kappa B element.

CD8+ T lymphocytes of HIV-1-infected individuals can efficiently suppress HIV-1 replication in CD4+ T lymphocytes via soluble factors. We compared the effect of CD8+ T cell-derived supernatants on HIV-1 LTR-driven gene expression in T cells and monocytic cell lines. Our results demonstrate that CD8+ T cell supernatants that suppressed HIV-1 LTR-driven gene expression in Jurkat T cells significantly enhanced expression in Tat-activated U38 monocytic cells in the presence and absence of mitogenic stimulation. Examination of a panel of CD8+ T cell-derived supernatants form HIV-infected individuals demonstrated that the extent of enhancement of transcription in U38 cells was mirrored in most cases by a similar level of suppression of transcription in Jurkat T cells. In latently infected U1 cells treated with TNF-alpha, culture with CD8+ T cell supernatants markedly enhanced virus production. In addition, the percentage increase in the enhancement of HIV-1 LTR-driven CAT expression by CD8+ T cell supernatants correlated strongly (r = 0.911) with the level of p24 detected. The level of LTR-mediated gene expression in U38 cells was not influenced by rhMIP-1 alpha rhMIP-1 beta, or rhRANTES over a wide range of chemokine concentration. Treatment of CD8+ T cell supernatant with a combination of antibodies to these chemokines resulted in a further augmentation of LTR-mediated CAT expression in U38 cells. Taken together, these results demonstrate that CD8+ T cell suppressive factors may have opposite effects on HIV-1 LTR-driven gene expression and replication dependent on target cell type and further suggest that the beta-chemokines do not influence HIV-1 LTR-mediated gene expression in monocytic cells.

CD8+ T lymphocytes of HIV-1 infected individuals produce a soluble factor that efficiently suppresses HIV-1 replication at the transcriptional level. We show here that the response of the HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR) to mitogenic or Tat-mediated activation is sensitive to the suppressive action of a Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS)-transformed CD8+ T cell clone from an HIV-infected individual and supernatants from CD8+ T cells of HIV-1-infected asymptomatic subjects (CD4+ > 350/microliters). Mutagenesis of NF kappa B or Sp-1 elements within the LTR resulted in no change in the ability of CD8+ T cell supernatants to inhibit Tat- or mitogen-mediated LTR transcription. However, the response to HIV-1 Tat by a LTR in which the interleukin (IL)-2 homology NFAT-1 region was mutated resulted in almost complete elimination of suppression by CD8+ T cells. This was not observed when the NFAT-1 mutant LTR was activated by mitogen. We have previously shown that gene expression directed by the HIV-1 NF kappa B elements is inhibited by CD8+ cell-derived supernatants (Copeland et al., AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses, 1995;11:1321-1326). Taken together, these observations suggest that mitogenic activation, mediated primarily through the NF kappa B enhancer, is susceptible to CD8-mediated inhibition, however, inhibition of Tat-mediated activation may rely upon a different pathway that is NFAT-1 dependent.

Infection with HIV results in the modulation of circulating levels of many host factors. Several host proteins that are up-regulated in HIV infection have the potential to influence virus replication. More specifically, the transcription of HIV-1 can be modulated in vivo by host proteins, including cytokines and chemokines. Cytokines modulate transcription mediated by the HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR) via multiple signal transduction pathways with resulting recruitment of numerous transcription factors, including NFkappaB, C/EBP, AP-1, TCF-1alpha, NF-IL-6 and ISGF-3. The effects on transcription may vary depending upon the cell type studied and upon the timing of the exposure of infected or transfected cells to cytokines. Furthermore, studies of cytokine mediated activation or inhibition of LTR mediated transcription may also be affected by the presence of the HIV-1 trans-activating protein, Tat, which has significant impact upon the redox state of the cell. This review will examine the complexities of the positive and negative control of HIV transcription by cytokines and chemokines.

RANTES, MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta do not alter HIV-1 LTR-directed gene expression at doses up to 100 ng/ml. Although present in varying concentrations in supernatants derived from CD8+ lymphocytes from HIV-positive individuals, these chemokines are not responsible for the powerful CD8-derived suppressive effect on HIV-1 LTR-mediated gene expression observed in our system.

The ability of CD8+ T lymphocytes to suppress the transcription and replication of HIV-1 is well documented. We have demonstrated that the factor(s) responsible for the suppression of HIV-1 LTR-mediated gene expression are not the CC chemokines RANTES, MIP-1alpha, and MIP-1beta. Interestingly, these and other chemokines and cytokines are produced by both CD8+ and CD4+ T lymphocytes. On the presumption that CD4+ T lymphocytes may also be able to modulate HIV-1 expression in vitro we assessed the LTR-modulatory effects of a panel of culture supernatants derived from stimulated CD4+ T lymphocytes from HIV-positive patients and uninfected controls. Supernatants of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells mediated a suppression of LTR-driven gene expression in Jurkat T cells and an enhancement of gene expression in U38 monocytic cells. On the basis of these results, and using a herpesvirus saimiri (HVS)-transformed CD4+ T lymphocyte clone (HVSCD4), we demonstrate that both suppressive and enhancing effects are dose dependent. Furthermore, we have shown that supernatants of both HVSCD4 and HVSCD8 cells suppress LTR-mediated gene expression and HIV-1 replication in transfected/infected T cells. In U1 monocytic cells, supernatants of both CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes from an HIV-1-infected individual enhanced LTR-mediated gene expression, HIV-1 replication, and TNF-alpha production. However, only these effects as induced by CD8+ T cells were sensitive to the G protein inhibitor pertussis toxin. These results indicate that factors produced by both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells exert dichotomous effects on HIV-1 gene expression and replication in T cells and monocytes.