Phenotypic and functional characterization of pharmacologically expanded Vγ9Vδ2 T cells in pigtail macaques.

While gaining interest as treatment for cancer and infectious disease, the clinical efficacy of Vγ9Vδ2 T cell-based immunotherapeutics has to date been limited. An improved understanding of γδ T cell heterogeneity across lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues, before and after pharmacological expansion, is required. Here, we describe the phenotype and tissue distribution of Vγ9Vδ2 T cells at steady state and following pharmacological expansion in pigtail macaques.

Coformulation with Tattoo Ink for Immunological Assessment of Vaccine Immunogenicity in the Draining Lymph Node.

Characterization of germinal center B and T cell responses yields critical insights into vaccine immunogenicity. Nonhuman primates are a key preclinical animal model for human vaccine development, allowing both lymph node (LN) and circulating immune responses to be longitudinally sampled for correlates of vaccine efficacy. However, patterns of vaccine Ag drainage via the lymphatics after i.

Stem cell-derived CAR T cells traffic to HIV reservoirs in macaques.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) with CCR5- donor cells is the only treatment known to cure HIV-1 in patients with underlying malignancy. This is likely due to a donor cell-mediated graft-versus-host effect targeting HIV reservoirs. Allo-HSCT would not be an acceptable therapy for most people living with HIV due to the transplant-related side effects.

Understanding the Role of Mucosal-Associated Invariant T-Cells in Non-human Primate Models of HIV Infection.

Chronic HIV infection causes systemic immune activation and dysregulation, resulting in the impairment of most T-cell subsets including MAIT cells. Multiple human cohort studies demonstrate MAIT cells are selectively depleted in the peripheral blood and lymphoid tissues during HIV infection, with incomplete restoration during suppressive antiretroviral therapy. Because MAIT cells play an important role in mucosal defense against a wide array of pathogens, fully reconstituting the MAIT cell compartment in ART-treated populations could improve immunity against co-infections.

Long-Term Persistence of Anti-HIV Broadly Neutralizing Antibody-Secreting Hematopoietic Cells in Humanized Mice.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) are among the most promising strategies to achieve long-term control of HIV-1 in the absence of combination antiretroviral therapy. Passive administration of such antibodies in patients efficiently decreases HIV-1 viremia, but is limited by the serum half-life of the protein. Here, we investigated whether antibody-secreting hematopoietic cells could overcome this problem.