HIV infection is associated with compromised tumor microenvironment adaptive immune reactivity in Hodgkin Lymphoma.

ABSTRACT

The impact of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection on the tumor microenvironment (TME) of classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), one of the most common co-morbidities following HIV infection, is not well understood. Here, we have employed multiplexed immunofluorescence (mIF) and spatial transcriptomic analysis to dissect the impact of viral infections (EBV, HIV/EBV) on cHL TME. Compared to HIV-EBV-, HIV-EBV+ cHL TME was characterized by higher cell densities of CD8high T cells co-expressing inhibitory receptors (PD-1, TIGIT), macrophage subsets and an in situ inflammatory molecular profile associated with increased expression of TCR and BCR cell signaling pathways. Compared to HIV-EBV+, HIV+EBV+ cHL TME was characterized by significantly less CD8high T cells co-expressing PD-1 and TIGIT, a profile concomitant with significantly increased cell densities of CD155high neoplastic cells. Significant downregulation of in situ TCR-signaling and upregulation of extracellular matrix reorganization pathways were found in HIV+EBV+ cHL TME, in line with an altered topological organization of CXCL13 and heparan sulfate, an extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycan. Our data reveal the complexity of the cellular and molecular composition of cHL TME in the presence of viral infections, with possible implications for combinatorial immunotherapies. Furthermore, the data suggest specific molecular targets and pathways for further investigation that could improve our understanding of possible mechanistic links between HIV and lymphomagenesis.