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Alison J Quayle, Wanda M P Coston, Alicja K. Trocha, Spyros A Kalams, Kenneth H Mayer, Deborah J Anderson, Detection of HIV-1-Specific CTLs in the Semen of HIV-Infected Individuals, The Journal of Immunology, Volume 161, Issue 8, October 1998, Pages 4406–4410, https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.161.8.4406
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Abstract
CTLs play an important role in controlling cell-associated HIV. Since the majority of HIV infections are acquired through sexual transmission, we investigated whether antiviral CTLs were present in the male urogenital tract using semen as a source of T cells. We were able to establish anti-HIV cytolytic lines in five of five HIV-infected men with CD4 counts of >500/μl, although cloning efficiencies were lower than with peripheral blood-derived T cells. CTLs generated from the semen of three men were analyzed in detail and showed a broadly active response, recognizing gag, env, and pol proteins. Detailed analysis of two gag-specific clones from one of the individuals demonstrated HLA class I restriction and recognition of the same p24 epitope (EQASQEVKNWMT). In summary, our results demonstrate the presence of a broad CTL response to HIV in the urogenital tract and provide a rationale for further studies of local enhancement of genital mucosal responses by anti-HIV immunization.