Immune Activation of Vaginal Human Langerhans Cells Increases Susceptibility to Hiv-1 Infection Publisher Pubmed



Van Teijlingen NH¹ ; Eder J^{1, 2} ; Sarramiforooshani R³ ; Zijlstrawillems EM^{1, 2} ; Roovers JPWR⁴ ; Van Leeuwen E⁴ ; Ribeiro CMS^{1, 2} ; Geijtenbeek TBH^{1, 2} Show Affiliations
Source: Scientific Reports Published:2023

Abstract

Vaginal inflammation increases the risk for sexual HIV-1 transmission but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study we assessed the impact of immune activation on HIV-1 susceptibility of primary human vaginal Langerhans cells (LCs). Vaginal LCs isolated from human vaginal tissue expressed a broad range of TLRs and became activated after exposure to both viral and bacterial TLR ligands. HIV-1 replication was restricted in immature vaginal LCs as only low levels of infection could be detected. Notably, activation of immature vaginal LCs by bacterial TLR ligands increased HIV-1 infection, whereas viral TLR ligands were unable to induce HIV-1 replication in vaginal LCs. Furthermore, mature vaginal LCs transmitted HIV-1 to CD4 T cells. This study emphasizes the role for vaginal LCs in protection against mucosal HIV-1 infection, which is abrogated upon activation. Moreover, our data suggest that bacterial STIs can increase the risk of HIV-1 acquisition in women. © 2023, The Author(s).