CXCR4-Using HIV Strains Predominate in Naive and Central Memory CD4( ) T Cells in People Living with HIV on Antiretroviral Therapy: Implications for How Latency Is Established and Maintained

Abstract

HIV can persist in people living with HIV (PLWH) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in multiple CD4+ T cell subsets, including naïve, central memory (CM) cells, transitional (TM) and effector memory (EM) cells. Since these cells express different levels of the viral co-receptors CXCR4 and CCR5 on their cell surface, we sought to determine whether the HIV envelope protein (Env) was genotypically and phenotypically different between CD4+ T cell subsets isolated from PLWH on suppressive ART (n=8). Single genome amplification for the HIV env gene was performed on genomic DNA extracts from different CD4+ T cell subsets. We detected CXCR4-using (X4) strains in five of the eight participants studied, ..