Pegivirus avoids immune recognition but does not attenuate acute-phase disease in a macaque model of HIV infection

PLoS Pathogens

John Tan¹  Eric J. Peterson¹  Kevin G. Brunner¹  Heather A. Simmons¹  Connor R. Buechler¹  Adam J. Ericsen¹  Michelle R. Koenig¹  David T. Yang²  Laurel M. Stewart²  Meghan Breitbach²  Adam L. Bailey²  Daniel R. Matson²  Emma Mohr²  Saverio Capuano III²  Christina M. Newman²  Mariel S. Mohns²  David H. O’Connor² 

[1] Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America;Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America

关键词: Macaque;    SIV;    T cells;    Immunohistochemistry techniques;    Viral load;    Antibodies;    HIV infections;    Immune response;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.ppat.1006692

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

Human pegivirus (HPgV) protects HIV+ people from HIV-associated disease, but the mechanism of this protective effect remains poorly understood. We sequentially infected cynomolgus macaques with simian pegivirus (SPgV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) to model HIV+HPgV co-infection. SPgV had no effect on acute-phase SIV pathogenesis–as measured by SIV viral load, CD4+ T cell destruction, immune activation, or adaptive immune responses–suggesting that HPgV’s protective effect is exerted primarily during the chronic phase of HIV infection. We also examined the immune response to SPgV in unprecedented detail, and found that this virus elicits virtually no activation of the immune system despite persistently high titers in the blood over long periods of time. Overall, this study expands our understanding of the pegiviruses–an understudied group of viruses with a high prevalence in the global human population–and suggests that the protective effect observed in HIV+HPgV co-infected people occurs primarily during the chronic phase of HIV infection.

【 授权许可】

CC BY