查看文章

Chronic HIV infection is associated with accumulation of germinal center (GC) T follicular helper (Tfh) cells in the lymphoid tissue. The GC Tfh cells can be heterogeneous based on the expression of chemokine receptors associated with T helper lineages, such as CXCR3 (Th1), CCR4 (Th2), and CCR6 (Th17). However, the heterogeneous nature of GC Tfh cells in the lymphoid tissue and its association with viral persistence and Ab production during chronic SIV/HIV infection are not known. To address this, we characterized the expression of CXCR3, CCR4, and CCR6 on GC Tfh cells in lymph nodes following SIVmac251 infection in rhesus macaques. In SIV-naive rhesus macaques, only a small fraction of GC Tfh cells expressed CXCR3, CCR4, and CCR6. However, during chronic SIV infection, the majority of GC Tfh cells expressed CXCR3, whereas the proportion of CCR4+ cells did not change, and CCR6+ cells …