This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.We are continuing to examine the emergence of virus specific cytotoxic T cells in tissues throughout SIV infection. We are examining the generation of virus specific T cells in tissues of macaques by tetramer technology, cytokine flow cytometry, and ELISPOT analysis. We have recently demonstrated that virus specific immune cells emerge in various tissues develop in larger numbers in the intestine, spleen, and other tissues compared to blood, but the former seem to lose their functionality, presumably because of loss of effector CD4+ T cell help in these tissues. In other studies, we have depleted CD8+ T Cells in macaques and tracked the emergence of these cells in animals and correlated their return with improved clinical status and decreased viral loads. Both of these studies are now being prepared for publication.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 352 publications