Proliferative and cytotoxic T cells to AIDS virus glycoproteins in chimpanzees immunized with a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing AIDS virus envelope glycoproteins
Zarling, J.M.; Eichberg, J.W.; Moran, P.A.; McClure, J.; Sridhar, P.; Hu, S.L.
Journal of Immunology 139(4): 988-990
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-1767 PMID: 3497202 Document Number: 294591
The immune mechanisms that may contribute to the prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)3 (1-3) have not been elucidated. HIV neutralizing antibodies (4, 5) may limit extracellular spread of HIV; however, HIV can also spread by fusion of infected with uninfected cells (1, 6), and infection can therefore continue in the presence of neutralizing antibody. T cell-mediated immunity (CMI), involving T helper cells and/or cytotoxic T cells (CTL) that can produce lymphokines or directly kill virus-infected cells have been shown to be important in resistance to various viral diseases (7-13). HIV-specific CMI may likewise help prevent AIDS; however, little is known concerning CMI to HIV. We and others previously described the isolation of recombinant vaccinia viruses that express HIV envelope glycoproteins gp 110 and gp 141 of the HIV isolate, lymphadenopathy virus I, and induce antibodies reactive with HIV in immunized mice (14, 15) and macaques (16). In addition, our recombinant vaccina virus, v-env5, induces HIV-specific T helper cells in macaques (16); however it had not been reported whether CTL can also be generated against HIV antigens. We report here the presence of T cells that proliferate in response to HIV envelope glycoproteins and the isolation of CTL: clones that recognize HIV glycoproteins from v-env5 immunized chimpanzees, the closest relative to man. We believe this is the first demonstration that immunization of primates can give rise to such CTL, and HIV envelope glycoproteins serve as target antigens for CTL.