Failure of HIV-exposed CD4+ T cells to activate dendritic cells is reversed by restoration of CD40/CD154 interactions.

Because interactions between activated CD4+ T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APCs) are crucial for optimal APC function, defective CD4+ T-cell activation may contribute to APC dysregulation in HIV infection. Here, we show that CD4+ T cells exposed during stimulation to noninfectious HIV having functional envelope glycoproteins failed to provide activation signals to autologous dendritic cells (DCs). Consequently, important DC functions, including production of immunoregulatory cytokines (interleukin-12 p40 and interleukin-10) and up-regulation of costimulatory molecules (CD86, CD40, CD83), as well as the capacity to stimulate naive allogeneic T cells, were all adversely affected. The blunted up-regulation of CD154 in CD4+ T cells that were activated in the presence of noninfectious viruses is likely to be the major underlying mechanism for these defects. Addition of recombinant trimeric CD154 could restore production of cytokines by DCs cocultured with HIV-exposed T cells. Moreover, the functional defects mediated by coculture with HIV-exposed T cells were similar to those following antibody blockade of CD40-CD154 interactions. HIV-mediated blunted CD154 expression may thus play an important role in the suppression of cell-mediated immunity seen in HIV infection.