c-gassner.bio

J Immunol. 2007 Jun 15;178(12):7840-8.

IgG opsonization of HIV impedes provirus formation in and infection of dendritic cells and subsequent long-term transfer to T cells.

by Christoph Gassner

Wilflingseder D, Banki Z, Garcia E, Pruenster M, Pfister G, Muellauer B, Nikolic DS, Gassner C, Ammann CG, Dierich MP, Piguet V, Stoiber H.

Abstract

Already at initial phases of infection, HIV is coated with complement fragments. During the chronic phase, when HIV-specific IgGs appear, the virus circulates immune complexed with IgG and complement. Thus, we studied the interaction of dendritic cells (DCs) and DC-T cell cocultures with complement (C)-opsonized and C-IgG-opsonized HIV. HIV infection of monocyte-derived DCs and circulating BDCA-1-positive DCs was significantly reduced upon the presence of virus-specific but non-neutralizing IgGs. DCs exposed to C-Ig-HIV or IgG-opsonized HIV showed an impaired provirus formation and p24 production and a decreased transmission rate to autologous nonstimulated T cells upon migration along a chemokine gradient. This reduced infectivity was also observed in long-term experiments, when T cells were added delayed to DCs exposed to IgG-coated HIV without migration. Similar kinetics were seen when sera from HIV-1-infected individuals before and after seroconversion were used in infection assays. Both C- and C-IgG-opsonized HIV were captured and targeted to a tetraspanin-rich endosome in immature DCs, but differed with respect to MHC class II colocalization. The reduced infection by IgG-opsonized HIV is possibly due to interactions of virus-bound IgG with FcgammaRIIb expressed on DCs. Therefore, the intracellular fate and transmission of immune-complexed HIV seems to differ depending on time and opsonization pattern.

PMID: 17548622

↗ ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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