IL-7 administration drives T cell-cycle entry and expansion in HIV-1 infection.

Interleukin 7 (IL-7) is a common gamma chain receptor cytokine implicated in thymopoiesis and in peripheral expansion and survival of T lymphocytes. The safety and activity of recombinant human IL-7 (rhIL-7) administration were therefore examined in HIV-infected persons. In this prospective randomized placebo-controlled study, a single subcutaneous dose of rhIL-7 was well tolerated with biologic activity demonstrable at 3 microg/kg and a maximum tolerated dose of 30 microg/kg. Injection site reactions and transient elevations of liver function tests were the most notable side effects. Transient increases in plasma HIV-RNA levels were observed in 6 of 11 IL-7-treated patients. Recombinant hIL-7 induced CD4 and CD8 T cells to enter cell cycle; cell-cycle entry was also confirmed in antigen-specific CD8 T cells. Administration of rhIL-7 led to transient down-regulation of the IL-7 receptor alpha chain (CD127) in both CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. Single-dose rhIL-7 increased the numbers of circulating CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, predominantly of central memory phenotype. The frequency of CD4(+) T cells with a regulatory T-cell phenotype (CD25(high) CD127(low)) did not change after rhIL-7 administration. Thus, rhIL-7 has a biologic and toxicity profile suggesting a potential for therapeutic trials in HIV infection and other settings of lymphopenia. This clinical trial has been registered at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov under NCT0099671.

Decreased survival of B cells of HIV-viremic patients mediated by altered expression of receptors of the TNF superfamily.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection leads to numerous perturbations of B cells through mechanisms that remain elusive. We performed DNA microarray, phenotypic, and functional analyses in an effort to elucidate mechanisms of B cell perturbation associated with ongoing HIV replication. 42 genes were up-regulated in B cells of HIV-viremic patients when compared with HIV-aviremic and HIV-negative patients, the majority of which were interferon (IFN)-stimulated or associated with terminal differentiation. Flow cytometry confirmed these increases and indicated that CD21(low) B cells, enhanced in HIV-viremic patients, were largely responsible for the changes. Increased expression of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily (TNFSF) receptor CD95 correlated with increased susceptibility to CD95-mediated apoptosis of CD21(low) B cells, which, in turn, correlated with HIV plasma viremia. Increased expression of BCMA, a weak TNFSF receptor for B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS), on CD21(low) B cells was associated with a concomitant reduction in the expression of the more potent BLyS receptor, BAFF-R, that resulted in reduced BLyS binding and BLyS-mediated survival. These findings demonstrate that altered expression of genes associated with IFN stimulation and terminal differentiation in B cells of HIV-viremic patients lead to an increased propensity to cell death, which may have substantial deleterious effects on B cell responsiveness to antigenic stimulation.

Decreased survival of B cells of HIV-viremic patients mediated by altered expression of receptors of the TNF superfamily.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection leads to numerous perturbations of B cells through mechanisms that remain elusive. We performed DNA microarray, phenotypic, and functional analyses in an effort to elucidate mechanisms of B cell perturbation associated with ongoing HIV replication. 42 genes were up-regulated in B cells of HIV-viremic patients when compared with HIV-aviremic and HIV-negative patients, the majority of which were interferon (IFN)-stimulated or associated with terminal differentiation. Flow cytometry confirmed these increases and indicated that CD21(low) B cells, enhanced in HIV-viremic patients, were largely responsible for the changes. Increased expression of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily (TNFSF) receptor CD95 correlated with increased susceptibility to CD95-mediated apoptosis of CD21(low) B cells, which, in turn, correlated with HIV plasma viremia. Increased expression of BCMA, a weak TNFSF receptor for B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS), on CD21(low) B cells was associated with a concomitant reduction in the expression of the more potent BLyS receptor, BAFF-R, that resulted in reduced BLyS binding and BLyS-mediated survival. These findings demonstrate that altered expression of genes associated with IFN stimulation and terminal differentiation in B cells of HIV-viremic patients lead to an increased propensity to cell death, which may have substantial deleterious effects on B cell responsiveness to antigenic stimulation.

CpG oligonucleotides enhance proliferative and effector responses of B Cells in HIV-infected individuals.

Stimulation through TLR represents a new therapeutic approach for enhancing Ab responses to vaccination. Considering that Ab responses are decreased in HIV disease and that B cells express TLR9 and respond to TLR9 agonists, we investigated the responsiveness of B cell subpopulations from HIV-infected and uninfected individuals to the TLR9 agonist CpG oligonucleotide type B (CpG-B) in the presence and absence of BCR ligation and T cell help (CD40L). CpG-B was equally effective in stimulating the proliferation of naive B cells of HIV-infected individuals and HIV-negative individuals, and, when combined with BCR and CD40 ligation, cytokine secretion by naive B cells was also comparable in HIV-infected and uninfected individuals. In contrast, CD27(+) memory/activated B cells of HIV-infected individuals with active disease were less responsive to CpG-B in terms of proliferation and cytokine secretion when compared with CD27(+) B cells of HIV-negative and HIV-infected individuals whose viremia was controlled by antiretroviral therapy. These findings suggest that despite abnormalities in memory B cells of HIV-infected individuals with active disease, naive B cells of HIV-infected individuals, irrespective of disease status, can respond to TLR9 agonists and that the incorporation of such agents in vaccine formulations may enhance their Ab responses to vaccination.

A Summary of the Fourth Annual Virology Education HIV Microbiome Workshop.

Each year, a growing international collection of researchers meets at the NIH to share and discuss developments in the microbiome HIV story. This past year has seen continued progress toward a detailed understanding of host-microbe interactions both within and outside the field of HIV. Commensal microbes are being linked to an ever-growing list of maladies and physiologic states, including major depressive disorder, chronic kidney disease, and Parkinson disease. PubMed citations for "microbiome" are growing at an exponential rate with over 11,000 in 2018. Various microbial taxa have been associated with HIV infection, and some of these taxa associated with HIV infection have also been associated with systemic markers of inflammation in HIV infected individuals. Causality remains unclear however as environmental and behavioral factors may drive HIV risk, inflammation, and gut enterotype. Much of the work currently being done addresses potential mechanisms by which gut microbes influence immune and inflammatory pathways. No portion of the microbiome landscape has grown as rapidly as study of the interplay between gut microbes and response to cancer immunotherapy. As Dr. Wargo discussed in her keynote address, this area has opened the door to better understanding on how commensal microbes interact with the human immune system.

A Summary of the Third Annual HIV Microbiome Workshop.

Our microbial cotravelers have increasingly apparent roles in both maintaining health and causing disease in several organ systems. Investigators gather annually at the National Institutes of Health to present new discoveries regarding the role of the microbiome in human health and a special focus on persons living with HIV. Here, we summarize the discussions from the third annual Virology Education workshop on the microbiome in HIV, which took place in October of 2017.

A Summary of the Second Annual HIV Microbiome Workshop.

Commensal organisms appear to play significant roles in normal homeostasis as well as in the pathogenesis of HIV infection in a number of different organ systems. On November 17th and 18th, 2016, leading researchers from around the world met to discuss their insights on advances in our understanding of HIV and the microbiome at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda. Dr. Elhanan Borenstein of the University of Washington gave a keynote address where he discussed new developments in systems biology which hold the promise of illuminating the pathways by which these organisms interact with human physiology. He suggested that we need to get past correlations in microbiome research by using models and informatics which incorporate metagenomics to predict functional changes in the microbiome.

A Summary of the First HIV Microbiome Workshop 2015.

The role of microbiota in the pathogenesis of HIV infection has become the subject of intense research in recent years. A rapidly growing amount of data suggest that microbial dysbiosis-in the gut or the genital tract-can influence HIV transmission and/or disease progression; however, a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved is lacking. To better understand the relationship between the microbiome and HIV infection, investigators from a wide variety of disciplines, including those working in basic and clinical HIV studies, cardiovascular disease, reproductive health, and bioinformatics, gathered at the first International Workshop on Microbiome in HIV Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment, at NIH on 7 and 8 April, 2015.

Conference report: "Functional Glycomics in HIV Type 1 Vaccine Design" workshop report, Bethesda, Maryland, April 30-May 1, 2012.

A vital part of the renewed hope for a vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) is based on recent studies that have highlighted major sites of HIV-1 vulnerability that could be effectively targeted by a preventive vaccine. One of these potential vulnerabilities includes the dense cluster of carbohydrates surrounding HIV-1's envelope glycoproteins gp120 and gp41, typically referred to as the "glycan shield." Recent data from several laboratories have shown that glycans on the HIV-1 envelope form key epitopes for broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAb). Moreover, HIV-1 envelope glycans play an important role in viral transmission, antigenicity, and immunogenicity. The recent availability of novel tools and technologies has now allowed investigators to leverage glycomic structure-function relationships in the design of candidate HIV-1 vaccines. Additionally, glycans modulate the immune response, playing an essential role in Fc receptor and complement activity. To promote cross-disciplinary collaboration and promote synergistic HIV-1- glycomics research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) cosponsored and convened a 1.5-day workshop entitled "Functional Glycomics in HIV-1 Vaccine Design." The meeting focused on the role of glycan interactions with neutralizing antibodies, the influence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) Fc receptor glycosylation, newly available glycomics technologies, and how new information on the role of glycans could be applied in HIV-1 immunogen design strategies. This report summarizes the discussions of this workshop.

"In vitro systems to characterize the immune response to HIV-1 and HIV-1 vaccine candidates", NIAID Workshop Report, Bethesda, August 4, 2010.

Although clinical trials are the ultimate way to prove vaccine safety and efficacy, the complexity, cost and time required to develop a product to enter human trials demand a serious, long-term investment. Lack of knowledge on immune correlates of protection from HIV infections makes investments in HIV vaccine research significantly risky. Preclinical testing of HIV vaccines is routinely carried out in non-human primate models however these studies have a significant cost and their predictive value is still questionable. The potential value of screening new HIV-1 vaccine candidates on human cells and tissues via high throughput in vitro systems that allow rapid, cost-effective and accurate predictions of in vivo immune responses would be enormous. A one-day workshop was convened by Division of AIDS, National Institutes of Health on August 4, 2010 to address the benefits and challenges of assessing HIV-1 vaccine responses in alternative ways. Consideration was given to the use of various in vitro model systems, human mucosal tissue explants and humanized mouse models as ways to predict immunogenicity and efficacy of HIV-1 vaccines early in the development process, and support decisions on whether a product may be worthy of moving into non-human primates or human trials. This report summarizes the outcome of the workshop.

Future paths for HIV vaccine research: Exploiting results from recent clinical trials and current scientific advances.

More than 60 million individuals have been infected with HIV and approximately half of these individuals have died since the epidemic started. The quest for an effective vaccine to prevent HIV transmission, which is likely to be the most effective approach to halt the epidemic, has been and continues to be an insurmountable challenge. Traditional vaccine strategies that have been effective for other vaccines have proven unsuccessful or impractical for HIV because of safety concerns. Nonetheless, substantial efforts have been directed at the development and clinical testing of HIV vaccines during the past two decades. Four major HIV vaccine efficacy trials conducted by VaxGen Inc (AIDSVAX 003 and AIDSVAX 004) and the NIH-supported HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN 502 and HVTN 503) failed to demonstrate efficacy; however, a recent trial conducted in Thailand (RV144 trial) demonstrated a low level of efficacy, resulting in some renewed optimism. Dissecting the causes for vaccine failure and, more importantly, for the partial level of efficacy observed in the RV144 trial should provide important guidance to the field. This review discusses the ongoing HIV vaccine trials and also highlights recent scientific advances that have provided the field with new leads to invigorate the search for effective vaccines.

Normalization of B cell counts and subpopulations after antiretroviral therapy in chronic HIV disease.

BACKGROUND: Untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease leads to abnormalities in all major lymphocyte populations, including CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T cells, and B cells. However, little is known regarding the effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART)-induced decrease in HIV viremia on B cell numbers and subpopulations. METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal study to evaluate changes in B cell numbers and subpopulations that occur during the course of 12 months of effective ART in a group of individuals with chronic HIV infection. RESULTS: ART-induced decrease in HIV viremia was associated with a significant increase in B cell counts, similar to increases in CD4(+) T cell counts yet distinct from the lack of increase in CD8(+) T cells. The increase in B cell counts was accompanied by a significant decrease in the frequency of apoptosis-prone B cell subpopulations, namely mature activated and immature transitional B cells, which are overrepresented in untreated HIV disease. The increase in B cell counts was reflected by a significant increase in naive and resting memory B cells, both of which represent populations that are essential for generating adequate humoral immunity. CONCLUSIONS: Normalization of B cell counts and subpopulations may help to explain the improvement in humoral immunity reported to occur after an ART-induced decrease in HIV viremia.

Evidence for HIV-associated B cell exhaustion in a dysfunctional memory B cell compartment in HIV-infected viremic individuals.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease leads to impaired B cell and antibody responses through mechanisms that remain poorly defined. A unique memory B cell subpopulation (CD20(hi)/CD27(lo)/CD21(lo)) in human tonsillar tissues was recently defined by the expression of the inhibitory receptor Fc-receptor-like-4 (FCRL4). In this study, we describe a similar B cell subpopulation in the blood of HIV-viremic individuals. FCRL4 expression was increased on B cells of HIV-viremic compared with HIV-aviremic and HIV-negative individuals. It was enriched on B cells with a tissuelike memory phenotype (CD20(hi)/CD27(-)/CD21(lo)) when compared with B cells with a classical memory (CD27(+)) or naive (CD27(-)/CD21(hi)) B cell phenotype. Tissuelike memory B cells expressed patterns of homing and inhibitory receptors similar to those described for antigen-specific T cell exhaustion. The tissuelike memory B cells proliferated poorly in response to B cell stimuli, which is consistent with high-level expression of multiple inhibitory receptors. Immunoglobulin diversities and replication histories were lower in tissuelike, compared with classical, memory B cells, which is consistent with premature exhaustion. Strikingly, HIV-specific responses were enriched in these exhausted tissuelike memory B cells, whereas total immunoglobulin and influenza-specific responses were enriched in classical memory B cells. These data suggest that HIV-associated premature exhaustion of B cells may contribute to poor antibody responses against HIV in infected individuals.

Idiopathic CD4+ T lymphocytopenia is associated with increases in immature/transitional B cells and serum levels of IL-7.

Idiopathic CD4+ T lymphocytopenia (ICL) is a rare heterogeneous disorder defined by CD4+ T-cell counts below 300 cells/muL in the absence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or other known immune deficiency disorders. Here, we report the expansion of immature/transitional B cells in patients with ICL, which is associated with elevated serum levels of IL-7. Both the percentage of immature/transitional B cells and levels of IL-7 were inversely correlated with levels of CD4+ T-cell counts and directly correlated to each other. Further analyses of B cells indicated that, in contrast to the activating effects of HIV disease on mature B cells, the expansion of immature/transitional B cells in patients with ICL occurred at the expense of memory B cells. These findings extend previous reports on primary immunodeficiencies as well as HIV disease by suggesting that CD4+ T-cell lymphopenia has an impact on human B-cell development either directly or indirectly via the associated elevation of IL-7 levels.

Role for CD21 in the establishment of an extracellular HIV reservoir in lymphoid tissues.

Follicular dendritic cells (FDC) represent a major extracellular reservoir for HIV. A better understanding of the mechanisms of virion attachment to FDC may offer new avenues for reducing viral burdens in infected individuals. We used a murine model to investigate the establishment of extracellular HIV reservoirs in lymph nodes (LN). Consistent with findings in human tissues, CD21 was required for trapping of HIV to LN cells, as evidenced by significantly reduced virion binding when mice were pretreated with a C3 ligand-blocking anti-CD21 mAb and absence of virion trapping in CD21 knockout mice. Also consistent with findings in human tissues, the majority of HIV virions were associated with the FDC-enriched fraction of LN cell preparations. Somewhat surprisingly, HIV-specific Abs were not essential for HIV binding to LN cells, indicating that seeding of the FDC reservoir may begin shortly after infection and before the development of HIV-specific Abs. Finally, the virion-displacing potential for anti-CD21 mAbs was investigated. Treatment of mice with anti-CD21 mAbs several days after injection of HIV significantly reduced HIV bound to LN cells. Our findings demonstrate a critical role for CD21 in HIV trapping by LN cells and suggest a new therapeutic avenue for reducing HIV reservoirs.

Appearance of immature/transitional B cells in HIV-infected individuals with advanced disease: correlation with increased IL-7.

Progression of HIV disease is associated with the appearance of numerous B cell defects. We describe herein a population of immature/transitional B cells that is overly represented in the peripheral blood of individuals with advancing HIV disease. These B cells, identified by the expression of CD10, were unresponsive by proliferation to B cell receptor triggering and possessed a phenotype and an Ig diversity profile that confirmed their immature/transitional stage of differentiation. Consistent with an immature status, their lack of proliferation to B cell receptor triggering was reversed with CD40 ligand, but not B cell activation factor. Finally, levels of CD10 expression on B cells were directly correlated with serum levels of IL-7, suggesting that increased levels of IL-7 modulate human B cell maturation either directly or indirectly by means of a homeostatic effect on lymphopenia. Taken together, these data offer insight into human B cell development as well as B cell dysfunction in advanced HIV disease that may be linked to IL-7-dependent homeostatic events.

Two overrepresented B cell populations in HIV-infected individuals undergo apoptosis by different mechanisms.

Perturbations of B cells in HIV-infected individuals are associated with the overrepresentation of distinct B cell populations. Here we describe high extrinsic CD95 ligand (CD95L)-mediated apoptosis in CD10-/CD21lo mature/activated B cells that likely arise from HIV-induced immune activation. In addition, high intrinsic apoptosis was observed in CD10+ immature/transitional B cells that likely arise as a result of HIV-induced lymphopenia. CD10+ B cells expressed low levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, consistent with their high susceptibility to intrinsic apoptosis. Higher levels of activated Bax and Bak were induced in CD10+ B cells compared with CD95L-treated CD10- B cells, consistent with the greater involvement of mitochondria in intrinsic vs. extrinsic apoptosis. Of interest, both extrinsic apoptosis in CD95L-treated CD10- B cells and intrinsic apoptosis in CD10+ B cells were associated with caspase-8 activation. Our data suggest that two distinct mechanisms of apoptosis are associated with B cells of HIV-infected individuals, and both may contribute to the depletion and dysfunction of B cells in these individuals.