Published online
doi:10.1084/jem.20081398
The Journal of Experimental Medicine
The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007 $30.00
© Jones et al.
Tim-3 expression defines a novel population of dysfunctional T cells with highly elevated frequencies in progressive HIV-1 infection
R. Brad Jones1,
Lishomwa C. Ndhlovu5,
Jason D. Barbour6,
Prameet M. Sheth2,
Aashish R. Jha5,
Brian R. Long5,
Jessica C. Wong1,
Malathy Satkunarajah3,
Marc Schweneker5,
Joan M. Chapman5,
Gabor Gyenes1,
Bahareh Vali2,
Martin D. Hyrcza2,
Feng Yun Yue1,
Colin Kovacs4,
Aref Sassi8,
Mona Loutfy7,
Roberta Halpenny7,
Desmond Persad8,
Gerald Spotts6,
Frederick M. Hecht6,
Tae-Wook Chun9,
Joseph M. McCune5,
Rupert Kaul2,
James M. Rini3,
Douglas F. Nixon5, and
Mario A. Ostrowski1,2,10
1 Department of Immunology, 2 Clinical Sciences Division, 3 Department of Biochemistry, and 4 Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada
5 Division of Experimental Medicine and 6 HIV/AIDS Division, Department of Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94110
7 Canadian Immunodeficiency Research Collaborative, 8 Maple Leaf Medical Clinic, Toronto, ON M5B 1L6, Canada
9 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892
10 Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
CORRESPONDENCE Brad Jones: brad.jones{at}utoronto.ca; OR Mario Ostrowski: mario.ostrowski{at}gmail.com
Progressive loss of T cell functionality is a hallmark of chronic infection with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1). We have identified a novel population of dysfunctional T cells marked by surface expression of the glycoprotein Tim-3. The frequency of this population was increased in HIV-1–infected individuals to a mean of 49.4 ± SD 12.9% of CD8+ T cells expressing Tim-3 in HIV-1–infected chronic progressors versus 28.5 ± 6.8% in HIV-1–uninfected individuals. Levels of Tim-3 expression on T cells from HIV-1–infected inviduals correlated positively with HIV-1 viral load and CD38 expression and inversely with CD4+ T cell count. In progressive HIV-1 infection, Tim-3 expression was up-regulated on HIV-1–specific CD8+ T cells. Tim-3–expressing T cells failed to produce cytokine or proliferate in response to antigen and exhibited impaired Stat5, Erk1/2, and p38 signaling. Blocking the Tim-3 signaling pathway restored proliferation and enhanced cytokine production in HIV-1–specific T cells. Thus, Tim-3 represents a novel target for the therapeutic reversal of HIV-1–associated T cell dysfunction.
Abbreviations used: bDNA, branched-chain DNA; CEF, CMV/EBV/Influenza; CIRC, Canadian Immunodeficiency Research Collaborative; HAART, highly active antiretroviral therapy; MFI, mean fluorescence intensity; mRNA, messenger RNA; P+I, PMA/Ionomycin; SEB, staphylococcus enterotoxin B; sTIM-3, soluble TIM-3.
R.B. Jones and L.C. Ndhlovu contributed equally to this paper.
© 2008 Jones et al. This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.jem.org/misc/terms.shtml). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).

CiteULike
Complore
Connotea
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
Technorati
Twitter What's this?
Related Article
-
TIMs: central regulators of immune responses
- David A. Hafler and Vijay Kuchroo
J. Exp. Med. 2008 205: 2699-2701.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
Related In this Issue article
-
Reviving the attack against HIV
- Amy Maxmen
J. Exp. Med. 2008 205: 2689.
[Full Text]
[PDF]
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Holtan, S. G., Creedon, D. J., Haluska, P., Markovic, S. N.
(2009). Cancer and Pregnancy: Parallels in Growth, Invasion, and Immune Modulation and Implications for Cancer Therapeutic Agents. Mayo Clin Proc.
84: 985-1000
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Richter, K., Agnellini, P., Oxenius, A.
(2009). On the role of the inhibitory receptor LAG-3 in acute and chronic LCMV infection. Int Immunol
0: dxp107v1-dxp107
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Golden-Mason, L., Palmer, B. E., Kassam, N., Townshend-Bulson, L., Livingston, S., McMahon, B. J., Castelblanco, N., Kuchroo, V., Gretch, D. R., Rosen, H. R.
(2009). Negative Immune Regulator Tim-3 Is Overexpressed on T Cells in Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Its Blockade Rescues Dysfunctional CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells. J. Virol.
83: 9122-9130
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Jones, R. B., Yue, F.-Y., Gu, X. X. J., Hunter, D. V., Mujib, S., Gyenes, G., Mason, R. D., Mohamed, R., MacDonald, K. S., Kovacs, C., Ostrowski, M. A.
(2009). Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Escapes from Interleukin-2-Producing CD4+ T-Cell Responses without High-Frequency Fixation of Mutations. J. Virol.
83: 8722-8732
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Brockman, M. A., Kwon, D. S., Tighe, D. P., Pavlik, D. F., Rosato, P. C., Sela, J., Porichis, F., Le Gall, S., Waring, M. T., Moss, K., Jessen, H., Pereyra, F., Kavanagh, D. G., Walker, B. D., Kaufmann, D. E.
(2009). IL-10 is up-regulated in multiple cell types during viremic HIV infection and reversibly inhibits virus-specific T cells. Blood
114: 346-356
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Motozono, C., Yanaka, S., Tsumoto, K., Takiguchi, M., Ueno, T.
(2009). Impact of Intrinsic Cooperative Thermodynamics of Peptide-MHC Complexes on Antiviral Activity of HIV-Specific CTL. J. Immunol.
182: 5528-5536
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Sehrawat, S., Suryawanshi, A., Hirashima, M., Rouse, B. T.
(2009). Role of Tim-3/Galectin-9 Inhibitory Interaction in Viral-Induced Immunopathology: Shifting the Balance toward Regulators. J. Immunol.
182: 3191-3201
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Jones, R. B., Ndhlovu, L. C., Barbour, J. D., Sheth, P. M., Jha, A. R., Long, B. R., Wong, J. C., Satkunarajah, M., Schweneker, M., Chapman, J. M., Gyenes, G., Vali, B., Hyrcza, M. D., Yue, F. Y., Kovacs, C., Sassi, A., Loutfy, M., Halpenny, R., Persad, D., Spotts, G., Hecht, F. M., Chun, T.-W., McCune, J. M., Kaul, R., Rini, J. M., Nixon, D. F., Ostrowski, M. A.
(2008). Tim-3 expression defines a novel population of dysfunctional T cells with highly elevated frequencies in progressive HIV-1 infection. JCB
183: i9-i9
[Full Text]