Allogeneic immunity clears latent virus following allogeneic stem cell transplantation in SIV-infected ART-suppressed macaques

Immunity. 2023 Jul 11;56(7):1649-1663.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.04.019. Epub 2023 May 25.

Abstract

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) from donors lacking C-C chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5Δ32/Δ32) can cure HIV, yet mechanisms remain speculative. To define how alloHSCT mediates HIV cure, we performed MHC-matched alloHSCT in SIV+, anti-retroviral therapy (ART)-suppressed Mauritian cynomolgus macaques (MCMs) and demonstrated that allogeneic immunity was the major driver of reservoir clearance, occurring first in peripheral blood, then peripheral lymph nodes, and finally in mesenteric lymph nodes draining the gastrointestinal tract. While allogeneic immunity could extirpate the latent viral reservoir and did so in two alloHSCT-recipient MCMs that remained aviremic >2.5 years after stopping ART, in other cases, it was insufficient without protection of engrafting cells afforded by CCR5-deficiency, as CCR5-tropic virus spread to donor CD4+ T cells despite full ART suppression. These data demonstrate the individual contributions of allogeneic immunity and CCR5 deficiency to HIV cure and support defining targets of alloimmunity for curative strategies independent of HSCT.

Keywords: CCR5; GVHD; HIV; HSCT; SIV.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • HIV Infections*
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation*
  • Macaca fascicularis
  • Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome*
  • Simian Immunodeficiency Virus*
  • Viral Load