Chemokine-receptor activation by env determines the mechanism of death in HIV-infected and uninfected T lymphocytes

There is considerable confusion concerning the mechanism of lymphocyte death during HIV infection. During the course of HIV infection, M-tropic viruses (R5) that use CCR5 chemokine coreceptors frequently evolve to T-tropic viruses (X4) that use CXCR4 receptors. In this study we show that activation of the CD4 or CCR5 receptor by R5 HIVenv causes a caspase 8-dependent death of both uninfected and infected CD4 T cells. In contrast, CXCR4 activation by X4 HIVenv induces a caspase-independent death of both uninfected CD4 and CD8 T cells and infected CD4 cells. These results suggest that activation of the chemokine receptor by HIVenv determines the mechanism of death for both infected and uninfected T lymphocytes.

Constitutive Fas ligand gene transcription in Sertoli cells is regulated by Sp1

The transcriptional regulation of the Fas ligand (FasL) gene in Sertoli cells was investigated, as these cells are known to have constitutive expression of FasL and hence maintain an "immune privileged" environment within the testicle. Using the Sertoli cell line TM4, it was demonstrated that a gene segment of the 5'-untranslated region located between -318 and -237 relative to the translation start site is required for constitutive FasL transcription. Deletion and mutation analysis demonstrate that an Sp1 rather than an NFAT or NFKB-like DNA binding motif present within this region is necessary and sufficient for constitutive FasL gene transcription. Nuclear extracts of Sertoli cells contain Sp1 and Sp3 that specifically binds to the Sp1 motif present in the FasL gene, and overexpression of Sp1 but not Sp3 leads to a further increase of transcription from the FasL promoter-enhancer region. The data presented demonstrates that constitutive FasL gene transcription in Sertoli cells is regulated by Sp1. In addition, it is shown that basal FasL expression in Jurkat T cells is also controlled by Sp1 and this is in contrast to induced FasL expression, which is NFAT-dependent.

The expression of Fas Ligand by macrophages and its upregulation by human immunodeficiency virus infection

Fas/Fas Ligand (FasL) interactions play a significant role in peripheral T lymphocyte homeostasis and in certain pathological states characterized by T cell depletion. In this study, we demonstrate that antigen-presenting cells such as monocyte-derived human macrophages (MDM) but not monocyte-derived dendritic cells express basal levels of FasL. HIV infection of MDM increases FasL protein expression independent of posttranslational mechanisms, thus highlighting the virus-induced transcriptional upregulation of FasL. The in vitro relevance of these observations is confirmed in human lymphoid tissue. FasL protein expression is constitutive and restricted to tissue macrophages and not dendritic cells. Moreover, a significant increase in macrophage-associated FasL is observed in lymphoid tissue from HIV (+) individuals (P < 0.001), which is further supported by increased levels of FasL mRNA using in situ hybridization. The degree of FasL protein expression in vivo correlates with the degree of tissue apoptosis (r = 0.761, P < 0. 001), which is significantly increased in tissue from HIV-infected patients (P < 0.001). These results identify human tissue macrophages as a relevant source for FasL expression in vitro and in vivo and highlight the potential role of FasL expression in the immunopathogenesis of HIV infection.