Early regeneration of thymic progenitors in rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Joanna J. Wykrzykowska, Harvard Medical School; Michael Rosenzweig, Harvard Medical School; Ronald S. Veazey, Harvard Medical School; Meredith A. Simon, Harvard Medical School; Katherine Halvorsen, Smith College; Ronald C. Desrosiers, Harvard Medical School; R. Paul Johnson, Emory University; Andrew A. Lackner, Harvard Medical School
• Language: English
• Date: 1998-06-01
• Publisher: ROCKEFELLER UNIV PRESS
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Rockefeller University Pres
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1084/jem.187.11.1767
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
• Volume: 187
• Issue: 11
• Start Page: 1767
• End Page: 1778
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by Public Health Service grants NS-30769, AI-38559, AI-39423, RR-07000, and RR-00168. A.A. Lackner is the recipient of an Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award.
• Keywords: Medicine, Research & Experimental; SCID-HU MOUSE; animal model; T-CELLS; THYMOCYTE DEPLETION; DISEASE; CELL NUCLEAR ANTIGEN; MONKEYS; AIDS; SIV VACCINE; NEF GENE; Immunology; pathogenesis; Science & Technology; apoptosis; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Research & Experimental Medicine; HIV-1 INFECTION; T cell homeostasis

Abstract

The thymus plays a critical role in the maturation and production of T lymphocytes and is a target oF infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the related simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). Using the SIV/macaque model of AIDS, we examined the early effects of SIV on the thymus. We found that thymic infection by SIV resulted in increased apoptosis 7-14 d after infection, Followed by depletion of thymocyte progenitors by day 21. A marked rebound in thymocyte progenitors occurred by day 50 and was accompanied by increased levels of cell proliferation in the thymus. Our results demonstrate a marked increase in thymic progenitor activity very early in the course of SIV infection, long before marked declines in peripheral CD4+ T cell counts.