THE T-CELL RECEPTOR V-BETA REPERTOIRE IN NAIVE AND HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS-1 (HIV-1) INFECTED CHIMPANZEES

Using a panel of human T-cell receptor (TCR) variable region beta chai n (V beta) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers, we performed cross -sectional and longitudinal analyses of the TCR V beta repertoire in n aive and HIV-1 infected chimpanzees. We demonstrate that our TCR PCR p rimer panel will support amplification of chimpanzee cDNA from most of the TCR V beta families. However, no differences in TCR V beta expres sion were found between the naive and HIV-1 infected chimpanzees, unli ke the TCR V beta repertoire perturbation found in HIV-1 infected huma n subjects. This finding suggests that a complete TCR repertoire in HI V-1 infected chimpanzees is associated with the maintenance CD4 + T-ce ll numbers and lack of progression to AIDS.