Conditional CD8 + T Cell Escape during Acute Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Abstract

CD8 + T cell responses rapidly select viral variants during acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection. We used pyrosequencing to examine variation within three SIV-derived epitopes (Gag 386-394 GW9, Nef 103-111 RM9, and Rev 59-68 SP10) targeted by immunodominant CD8 + T cell responses in acutely infected Mauritian cynomolgus macaques. In animals recognizing all three epitopes, variation within Rev 59-68 SP10 was associated with delayed accumulation of variants in Gag 386-394 GW9 but had no effect on variation within Nef 103-111 RM9. This demonstrates that the entire T cell repertoire, rather than a single T cell population, influences the timing of immune escape, thereby providing the first example of conditional CD8 + T cell escape in HIV/SIV infection.