The role of antigen presenting cells in the induction of HIV-1 latency in resting CD4 + T-cells

Background Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is able to control HIV-1 viral replication, however long-lived latent infection in resting memory CD4 + T-cells persist. The mechanisms for establishment and maintenance of latent infection in resting memory CD4 + T-cells remain unclear. Previously we have shown that HIV-1 infection of resting CD4 + T-cells co-cultured with CD11c + myeloid dendritic cells (mDC) produced a population of non-proliferating T-cells with latent infection. Here we asked whether different antigen presenting cells (APC), including subpopulations of DC and monocytes, were able to induce post-integration latent infection in resting CD4 + T-cells, and examined potential cell interactions that may be involved using RNA-seq. Results mDC (CD1c + ), SLAN + DC and CD14 + monocytes were most efficient in stimulating proliferation of CD4 + T-cells during syngeneic culture and in generating post-integration latent infection in non-proliferating CD4 + T-cells following HIV-1 infection of APC-T cell co-cultures. In comparison, plasmacytoid DC (pDC) and B-cells did not induce latent infection in APC-T-cell co-cultures. We compared the RNA expression profiles of APC subpopulations that could and could not induce latency in non-proliferating CD4 + T-cells. Gene expression analysis, comparing the CD1c + mDC, SLAN + DC and CD14 + monocyte subpopulations to pDC identified 53 upregulated genes that encode proteins expressed on the plasma membrane that could signal to CD4 + T-cells via cell–cell interactions (32 genes), immune checkpoints (IC) (5 genes), T-cell activation (9 genes), regulation of apoptosis (5 genes), antigen presentation (1 gene) and through unknown ligands (1 gene). Conclusions APC subpopulations from the myeloid lineage, specifically mDC subpopulations and CD14 + monocytes, were able to efficiently induce post-integration HIV-1 latency in non-proliferating CD4 + T-cells in vitro. Inhibition of key pathways involved in mDC-T-cell interactions and HIV-1 latency may provide novel targets to eliminate HIV-1 latency.