PROJECT
Mucosal Innate and Adaptive Immunity and HIV

Dendritic cells are an important type of white blood cell that coordinate the activation of immune responses against pathogens, including HIV. Because they are positioned at the body surfaces HIV must cross to enter the body, dendritic cells are critical to the earliest (innate) and later (adaptive) immune responses mounted against HIV. However, HIV is able to exploit dendritic cells (especially those at the body surfaces) and overwhelm immunity to establish infection.

Because many other organisms are located where HIV enters the body, it is important also to understand how the presence of these other pathogens affects the ability of dendritic cells to mount immunity against HIV and, vice versa, whether first encountering other pathogens affects how a dendritic cell will respond to HIV. In vitro and in vivo research at the Council explores the innate responses of dendritic cells to HIV in this context in an attempt to understand the sorts of responses that are elicited under different conditions and whether these responses are modified at different sites around the body. Distinct dendritic cell subsets respond uniquely to HIV, Candida, and herpes simplex viruses, unlike the responses elicited by potent dendritic cell stimuli that augment immunity. Specific activation of dendritic cells through unique receptors on their surface is being investigated in order to augment responses needed to control HIV.

Ongoing studies will provide a comprehensive understanding of the early immune events of HIV transmission at different sites around the body and help identify the types of immune responses needed to more effectively prevent or control infection through preventive or therapeutic vaccines.

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Population Council researchers

Current: Melissa Robbiani, Loreley Villamide-Herrera, Ines Frank, Jessica Kenney, Onome Akpogheneta, Federica Crostarosa, Nina Derby, Edith Jasny, Panagiotis Vagenas, Meropi Aravantinou, Rachel Singer, Vennansha Williams

Former: Gavin Morrow, Silvia Peretti, Natalia Teleshova, Susanna Trapp, Stuart Turville, Laurence Vachot, Seol-Young Han, Jennifer Jones, Todd Miller, John Santos, Andrew Shaw

Non-Council collaborators

James Blanchard (Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, Louisiana)

Anthony Cunningham (Westmead Hospital and University of Sydney, Australia)

Agegnehu Gettie (Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York, New York)

Jeffrey Lifson (National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland)

Katherine Luzuriaga (University of Massachusetts, Worcester)

Andres Salazar (Oncovir, Washington, DC)

Gary Van Nest (Dynavax, Berkley, California)

Donor

US National Institutes of Health

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