Gag p24 Is a Marker of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Expression in Tissues and Correlates With Immune Response

Guoxin Wu; Paul Zuck; Shih Lin Goh; Jeffrey M Milush; Poonam Vohra; Joseph K Wong; Ma Somsouk; Steven A Yukl; Barbara L Shacklett; Nicolas Chomont; Ashley T Haase; Hiroyu Hatano; Timothy W Schacker; Steven G Deeks; Daria J Hazuda; Peter W Hunt; Bonnie J Howell

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiab121

Gag p24 Is a Marker of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Expression in Tissues and Correlates With Immune Response

J Infect Dis. 2021 Nov 16;224(9):1593-1598. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiab121.

Authors

Guoxin Wu¹, Paul Zuck¹, Shih Lin Goh¹, Jeffrey M Milush², Poonam Vohra³, Joseph K Wong⁴, Ma Somsouk⁵, Steven A Yukl⁴, Barbara L Shacklett⁶, Nicolas Chomont⁷, Ashley T Haase⁸, Hiroyu Hatano⁹, Timothy W Schacker¹⁰, Steven G Deeks⁹, Daria J Hazuda¹, Peter W Hunt², Bonnie J Howell¹

Affiliations

¹ Merck & Co, Inc, Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA.
² Division of Experimental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
³ Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁴ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁵ Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁶ Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA.
⁷ Department of Microbiology, Infectiology and Immunology and Centre de Recherche du CHUM, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
⁸ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
⁹ Division of HIV, ID, and Global Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
¹⁰ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Abstract

We demonstrate that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gag p24 protein is more readily detected in gut and lymph node tissues than in blood CD4+ T cells and correlates better with CD4 count during antiretroviral therapy (ART). Gut p24 levels also measurably decline with ART in natural controllers. During ART, gut p24 expression is more strongly associated both with HIV-specific CD8+ T-cell frequency and plasma soluble CD14 levels than gut HIV RNA expression. This study supports using gag p24 as a marker of HIV expression in HIV+ tissues to study effects of viral persistence and to monitor efficacy of treatment in HIV-based clearance studies.

Keywords: HIV; HIV persistence; biomarker; fine needle aspirates; gag p24; lymph nodes; rectal biopsy.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Biomarkers / blood
Biopsy
CD4 Lymphocyte Count
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology
Female
HIV Core Protein p24 / genetics
HIV Core Protein p24 / immunology*
HIV Infections / drug therapy
HIV Infections / genetics
HIV Infections / immunology*
HIV-1 / immunology*
Humans
Lymphocyte Activation
gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / metabolism*

Substances

Biomarkers
HIV Core Protein p24
gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding