Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more
•••

James Else

One reason why SIV-infected sooty mangabeys can avoid AIDS

Sooty mangabeys are a variety of Old World monkey that can be infected by HIV’s cousin SIV, but do not get AIDS. Emory immunologist and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar Guido Silvestri, MD, has been a strong advocate for examining non-human primates such as the sooty mangabey, which manage to handle SIV infection without crippling their immune systems. Silvestri is division chief of microbiology and immunology at Yerkes National Primate Research Center.

Research shows sooty mangabeys have T cells that can do the same job as those targeted by SIV, even if they don't have the same molecules on their surfaces

A recent paper in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reveals that sooty mangabeys have T cells that perform the same functions as those targeted by SIV and HIV, but have different clothing.

Silvestri and James Else, the animal resources division chief at Yerkes, are co-authors on the paper, while Donald Sodora at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute is senior author.

One main target for SIV and HIV is the group of T cells with the molecule CD4 on their surfaces. These are the “helper” T cells that keep the immune system humming. Doctors treating people with HIV infections tend to keep an eye on their CD4 T cell counts.

In the paper, the scientists show that sooty mangabeys infected with SIV lose their CD4 T cells, without losing the ability to regulate their immune systems. What’s remarkable here is that sooty mangabeys appear to have “double negative” or DN T cells that can perform the same functions as those lost to SIV infection, even though they don’t have CD4.

CD4 isn’t just decoration for T cells. It’s a part of how they recognize bits of host or pathogen protein in the context of MHC class II (the molecule that “presents” the bits on the outside of target cells). Somehow, the T cells in sooty mangabeys have a way to get around this requirement and still regulate the immune system competently. How they do this is the topic of ongoing research.

The authors write:

It will be important to assess DN T cells in HIV-infected patients, particularly to determine whether these cells are preserved and functional in long-term nonprogressors. These efforts may lead to future immune therapies or vaccine modalities designed to modulate DN T cell function. Indeed, the main lesson we have learned to date from this cohort of SIV-infected CD4-low mangabeys may be that managing immune activation and bolstering the function of nontarget T cells through better vaccines and therapeutics has the potential to contribute to preserved immune function and a nonprogressive outcome in HIV infection even when CD4+ T cell levels become low.

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Quinn Eastman in Immunology Leave a comment