Animal Genetics | Genetics of the Immune System | Leukocyte Signaling & Gene Expression | Respiratory Infections | HIV Infection & AIDS: Clinical
Characterization of alveolar macrophages during the acute phase of SIV mac251 infection in rhesus macaques
Yanhui Cai, Chie Sugimoto, Yayoi Fukuyo, Desiree Waguespack, Toni Penny, Ashley Leach, Elizabeth Didier, Erin Haupt, Marcelo Kuroda*
*Corresponding author: Marcelo Kuroda
Division of Immunology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, USA
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
F1000Posters 2011, 2: 1790 (poster) [English]
Poster [1.59 MB]
Presented at
29th Annual Symposium on Nonhuman Primate Models for AIDS 2011,
25 - 28 Oct 2011, 80
Alveolar macrophages (AM) are important tissue macrophages that play a critical role in the host defense of the respiratory tract. Many opportunistic infections observed in AIDS involve active proliferation of opportunistic pathogens in the lung. We have previously reported that SIV-infected macaques display increased monocyte turnover, with macrophage death observed in the tissues, including the bronchial alveolar lavage (BAL). This strongly suggests that damage to macrophage-associated innate immune responses by the AIDS virus may be the cause of opportunistic infection of the lungs.
We found that the turnover of AM from SIV infected animals was elevated as the disease progressed, which correlated with blood monocyte turnover. This suggests that AM death may be also responsible for blood monocyte turnover. In both groups of SIV infected macaques from the longitudinal study, a significant drop in cell number was observed in acute phase SIV BAL samples, as compared with pre-infection samples. The decrease in expression of the HLA-DR, CD4 and CD206 molecules on AM during the acute phase of SIV infection suggests that these cell subsets may be selectively eliminated, in a similar way to CD4 T cells. This study provides direct evidence that AM may be affected in the early stages of acute AIDS virus infection.
No relevant competing interests disclosed.
National Institutes of Health (NIH), 5R21AI087302-02
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