Publications by authors named "Pearline Cartwright"

The success of the shock and kill strategy for the HIV cure depends both on the reactivation of the latent reservoir and on the ability of the immune system to eliminate infected cells. As latency reversal alone has not shown any impact in the size of the latent reservoir, ensuring that effector CTLs are able to recognize and kill HIV-infected cells could contribute to reservoir reduction. In this study, we investigated which functional aspects of human CTLs are associated with a better capacity to kill HIV-infected CD4 T cells.

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CD8 T cells play a critical role in controlling HIV viremia and could be important in reducing HIV-infected cells in approaches to eradicate HIV. The simian immunodeficiency virus model provided the proof of concept for a CD8 T cell-mediated reservoir clearance but showed conflicting evidence on the role of these cells to eliminate HIV-infected cells. In humans, HIV-specific CD8 T cell responses have not been associated with a reduction of the HIV-infected cell pool in vivo.

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Background: Central nervous system (CNS) infiltration by CD8 T cells is associated with neuroinflammation in many neurodegenerative diseases, including HIV-associated dementia. However, the role of CD8 T cells in the CNS during acute HIV infection (AHI) is unknown.

Methods: We analyzed the phenotype, gene expression, T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire, and HIV specificity of CD8 T cells in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a unique cohort captured during the earliest stages of AHI (n = 26), chronic (n = 23), and uninfected (n = 8).

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