Loss of DNAM‐1 contributes to CD8+ T‐cell exhaustion in chronic HIV‐1 infection
Cella M., Presti R., Vermi W., Lavender K., Turnbull E., Ochsenbauer‐Jambor C., Kappes JC., Ferrari G., Kessels L., Williams I., McMichael AJ., Haynes BF., Borrow P., Colonna M.
AbstractThe hallmark of chronic viral infections is a progressive exhaustion of antigen‐specific CD8+ T cells that leads to persisting viral replication. It is generally believed that exhaustion is a consequence of the accumulation of multiple inhibitory receptors on CD8+ T cells that makes them dysfunctional. Here, we show that during human chronic HIV‐1 infection, a CD8+ T‐cell positive costimulatory pathway mediated by DNAX‐activating molecule‐1 is also disrupted. Thus, DNAX‐activating molecule‐1 downregulation on CD8+ T cells aggravates the impairment of CTL effector function in chronic HIV‐1 infection.