Cross Talk between P38MAPK and STAT3 Regulates Expression of Negative Costimulatory Molecules and Transcriptional Repressors in HIV-1 Primed T cells

• HIV-1 infection enhances the expression of negative costimulatory molecules on T cellsleading to T cell impairment. The signaling pathway underlying the regulation ofinhibitory molecules and the subsequent onset of T cell impairment remains to beinvestigated. Herein, we showed that the T cells activated by HIV-pulsed dendritic cells(DCs) upregulated CTLA-4, TRAIL, LAG-3, TIM-3, and CD160 and suppressionassociated transcription factors BLIMP-1, DTX1, and FOXP3, leading to T cellsuppression. The induction of suppressor T cells was regulated by the signal transducerand activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) molecules as blockade of this pathwaysignificantly down regulates the expression of inhibitory molecules. The cytokines IL-6and IL-10 were not responsible for STAT3 activation as their neutralization could neitherrecover T cell proliferation nor decrease the expression of negative costimulatorymolecules. Contrarily, we demonstrated that the intracytoplasmic cross-talk of P38Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) with STAT3 was responsible as blockade ofthe P38MAPK significantly impaired negative costimulatory molecular expression andthe subsequent recovery of T cell proliferation. Notably, the blockade of viral access toDC cytosol, via CD4 binding and fusion, significantly reduced the negative effects DCsimposed on the primed T cells. In conclusion, viral access to cytosol modulated theDCs- T cell priming to induce T cells with upreguled expression of negativecostimulatory molecules in a P38MAPK/STAT3 pathway dependent fashion

Nyckelord

BLIMP-1; dendritic cells; HIV-1; LAG-3; P38MAPK

STAT3; T cells

MEDICINE

MEDICIN

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