Frontiers in Immunology (May 2018)

Differentiation and Function of Follicular CD8 T Cells During Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

  • Minglu Xiao,
  • Xiangyu Chen,
  • Ran He,
  • Lilin Ye

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2018.01095
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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The combination antiretroviral therapeutic (cART) regime effectively suppresses human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication and prevents progression to acquired immunodeficiency diseases. However, cART is not a cure, and viral rebound will occur immediately after treatment is interrupted largely due to the long-term presence of an HIV reservoir that is composed of latently infected target cells that maintain a quiescent state or persistently produce infectious viruses. CD4 T cells that reside in B-cell follicles within lymphoid tissues, called follicular helper T cells (TFH), have been identified as a major HIV reservoir. Due to their specialized anatomical structure, HIV-specific CD8 T cells are largely insulated from this TFH reservoir. It is increasingly clear that the elimination of TFH reservoirs is a key step toward a functional cure for HIV infection. Recently, several studies have suggested that a fraction of HIV-specific CD8 T cells can differentiate into a CXCR5-expressing subset, which are able to migrate into B-cell follicles and inhibit viral replication. In this review, we discuss the differentiation and functions of this newly identified CD8 T-cell subset and propose potential strategies for purging TFH HIV reservoirs by utilizing this unique population.

Keywords