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Persistence of virus reservoirs in ART-treated SHIV-infected rhesus macaques after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

ABSTRACT: Despite many advances in AIDS research, a cure for HIV infection remains elusive. Here, we performed autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in three Simian/Human Immunodeficiency Virus (SHIV)-infected, antiretroviral therapy (ART)-treated rhesus macaques (RMs) using HSCs collected prior to infection and compared them to three SHIV-infected, ART-treated, untransplanted control animals to assess the effect of conditioning and autologous HSCT on viral persistence. As expected, ART drastically reduced virus replication, below 100 SHIV-RNA copies per ml of plasma in all animals. After several weeks on ART, experimental RMs received myeloablative total body irradiation (1080 cGy), which resulted in the depletion of 94-99% of circulating CD4+ T-cells, and low to undetectable SHIV-DNA levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Following HSC infusion and successful engraftment, ART was interrupted (40-75 days post-transplant). Despite the observed dramatic reduction of the peripheral blood viral reservoir, rapid rebound of plasma viremia was observed in two out of three transplanted RMs. In the third transplanted animal, plasma SHIV-RNA and SHIV DNA in bulk PBMCs remained undetectable at week two post-ART interruption. No further time-points could be assessed as this animal was euthanized for clinical reasons; however, SHIV-DNA could be detected in this animal at necropsy in sorted circulating CD4+ T-cells, spleen and lymph nodes but not in the gastro-intestinal tract or tonsils. Furthermore, SIV DNA levels post-ART interruption were equivalent in several tissues in transplanted and control animals. While persistence of virus reservoir was observed despite myeloablation and HSCT in the setting of short term ART, this experiment demonstrates that autologous HSCT can be successfully performed in SIV-infected ART-treated RMs offering a new experimental in vivo platform to test innovative interventions aimed at curing HIV infection in humans.

SUBMITTER: Mavigner M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4177994 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Human gammaherpesviruses are associated with malignancies in HIV infected individuals; in macaques used in non-human primate models of HIV infection, gammaherpesvirus infections also occur. Limited data on prevalence and tumorigenicity of macaque gammaherpesviruses, mostly cross-sectional analyses of small series, are available. We comprehensively examine all three-rhesus macaque gammaherpesviruses -Rhesus rhadinovirus (RRV), Rhesus Lymphocryptovirus (RLCV) and Retroperitoneal Fibromatosis Herpesvirus (RFHV) in macaques experimentally infected with Simian Immunodeficiency Virus or Simian Human Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV/SHIV) in studies spanning 15 years at the AIDS and Cancer Virus Program of the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research. We evaluated 18 animals with malignancies (16 lymphomas, one fibrosarcoma and one carcinoma) and 32 controls. We developed real time quantitative PCR assays for each gammaherpesvirus DNA viral load (VL) in malignant and non-tumor tissues; we also characterized the tumors using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Furthermore, we retrospectively quantified gammaherpesvirus DNA VL and SIV/SHIV RNA VL in longitudinally-collected PBMCs and plasma, respectively. One or more gammaherpesviruses were detected in 17 tumors; generally, one was predominant, and the relevant DNA VL in the tumor was very high compared to surrounding tissues. RLCV was predominant in tumors resembling diffuse large B cell lymphomas; in a Burkitt-like lymphoma, RRV was predominant; and in the fibrosarcoma, RFHV was predominant. Median RRV and RLCV PBMC DNA VL were significantly higher in cases than controls; SIV/SHIV VL and RLCV VL were independently associated with cancer. Local regressions showed that longitudinal VL patterns in cases and controls, from SIV infection to necropsy, differed for each gammaherpesvirus: while RFHV VL increased only slightly in all animals, RLCV and RRV VL increased significantly and continued to increase steeply in cases; in controls, VL flattened. In conclusion, the data suggest that gammaherpesviruses may play a significant role in tumorogenesis in macaques infected with immunodeficiency viruses.

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Persistence of virus reservoirs in ART-treated SHIV-infected rhesus macaques after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

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