The disruption of macaque CD4+T-cell repertoires during the early simian immunodeficiency virus infection

T-cell receptor (TCR) complementarily determining region 3 (CDR3) spetratyp ing analysis was employed to assess the ability of an AIDS virus to disrupt CD4+ T-cell repertoires during the primary infection. Rhesus and pig-taile d macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)mac 251 and SIV smmFGb, respectively, were evaluated. Following SIV infection, the macaques exhibited an apparent decline of CD4+ peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) co unts, which was associated with a change in CDR3 profiles from multiple-len gth distribution to one- or two-length dominance in the selected TCR V beta -expressing CD4+ PBL subpopulations. Molecular analysis of the perturbed ce ll subpopulations suggested that the CD4+ T cells bearing the dominant CDR3 length were clonally expanded. These results indicate that SIV infection c an induce a disruption of macaque CD4+ T-cell repertoires during the primar y infection. The finding in this study, therefore, suggests that the virus- induced clonal dominance can contribute to the disruption of CD4+ T-cell re pertoires.