Lymphoid Tissue Damage in HIV-1 Infection Depletes Naïve T Cells and Limits T Cell Reconstitution after Antiretroviral Therapy
Figure 3
Loss of FRCs is associated with loss of naïve T cells within LTs.
A. Confocal images of LN sections from subjects at different stage of HIV infection triple immunofluorescently stained for TUNEL (green), CD45RA (red) and CD3 (Blue), showing the gradual loss of CD45RA+CD3+ naïve T cells is associated increased apoptosis in the naïve T cell population within LTs during HIV infection. Scale bar, 10 µm. B. Confocal images of LN sections from subjects at different time points post HIV infection double immunofluorescently stained for CD45RA (green) and CD4 or CD8 (red), showing both naïve CD4 and CD8 T cells are depleted within LTs. Scale bar, 20 µm. C. Quantitative image analysis of the number of apoptotic naïve T cells and the number of naïve T cells (CD45RA+CD3+), showing that increased apoptosis in the naïve T cell population is associated with depletion of naïve T cells (total n = 37, p<0.0001, R2 = 0.5373). D. Quantification of FRCs (the percent area staining positive for desmin in T cell zone) and the number of apoptotic naïve T cells (TUNEL+CD45RA+CD3+), showing that the depletion of FRCs is associated with increased apoptosis in naïve T cell populations (total n = 37, p<0.0001, R2 = 0.5843). E. Quantitative image analysis of FRCs and the number of naïve T cells within LTs, showing that the loss of naïve T cells is associated with loss of FRCs (total n = 37, p<0.0001, R2 = 0.5166). Values are the mean of measurement ± s.d.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1002437.g003