6th International AIDS Conference


San Francisco, California, USA — June 20-23, 1990

Print this Article


Re-expression of CD4 and autoantibody-reactive antigen on AIDS patients' T lymphocytes after trypsin treatment.

Int Conf AIDS 1990 Jun 20-23; 6:338 (abstract no. 1096)
Small C, Calvelli T, Muck P, Golodner M, Rubinstein A; Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether autoreactive antigen on AIDS patients' T cells can regenerate after trypsin treatment to remove bound autoantibody or HIV protein(s).

METHODS: Nylon-wool purified T cells from adult AIDS patients were exposed to 0.25% trypsin. Surface antigens were regenerated in the absence of HIV by incubation in RPMI containing 15% FCS for 72 hours. Both pre- and post-trypsinization, cells were stained with FITC-conjugated monoclonal anti-CD3, CD4, and CD8; and reacted purified F(ab')2 fragments from AIDS patient IgG autoreactive with AIDS T cells, followed by FITC-conjugated goat anti-human F(ab')2, and analyzed by flow cytometry.

RESULTS: Of 12 patients tested, T cells from 10 reacted with AIDS autoantibody F(ab')2. Of the 10 who reacted with autoantibody before trypsin, 5 had increased CD4 following trypsin treatment. All tested also still reacted with the F(ab')2, and 2 of these showed increased reactivity. In addition, 2 patients whose cells did not react with autoantibody before trypsinization, reacted afterward; and 1 also showed increased CD4. Ten HIV negative controls did not react with autoantibody before or after trypsinization, and showed no increase in CD4 after trypsin treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: (1) CD4 on AIDS T cells increased after trypsinization, suggesting it may have been 'masked' by bound autoantibody and/or HIV; (2) after trypsinization, all patients still reacted with autoantibody F(ab')2, indicating that the autoreactive protein is regenerated post-trypsinization; and (3) autoreactivity increased for 4 patients after trypsinization, suggesting that HIV is not the autoantibody target.

Keywords: AEGIS, Antigens, CD4, T-Lymphocytes, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Autoantibodies, Antigens, CD8, Antigens, CD3, HIV, Antigens, Surface, HIV-1, Flow Cytometry, HIV Infections, HIV Envelope Protein gp120, Immunoglobulin G, Adult, Human, Animal, therapy, ICA6

900620
1096

Copyright © 1990 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.