Jf. Toso et al., OLIGOCLONAL CD8 LYMPHOCYTES FROM PERSONS WITH ASYMPTOMATIC HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS (HIV) TYPE-1 INFECTION INHIBIT HIV-1 REPLICATION, The Journal of infectious diseases, 172(4), 1995, pp. 964-973
CD8 lymphocytes from asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) t
ype 1-infected patients can suppress virus production from infected CD
4 cells. Suppressive activity is separate and distinct from cytotoxic
T lymphocyte (CTL) reactivities and is likely mediated by a soluble fa
ctor(s). The majority of HIV-1 suppression studies have been done in t
he context of bulk CD8 cell cultures. In this study, viral suppression
was characterized by clonal populations of CD8 cells derived from HIV
-1-infected patients. Most of the suppressive clones were devoid of de
tectable CTL reactivity against env-, gag-, pol-, and nef-expressing t
argets. Among the suppressive clones derived from an individual patien
t, a marked heterogeneity was evident with respect to phenotypic marke
rs, cytokine production, and T cell receptor V beta expression. These
results suggest that noncytolytic virus suppression is oligoclonal in
nature. Clones provide tools for future studies aimed at understanding
the mechanism of suppression and identifying the suppressive factor.