Anti-HIV activity of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells (pDC)

Introduction

Nina Bhardwaj, an Indian origin researcher at New York University has reported the role of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells (pDC) as an inti-HIV agent.

Actual Observation and Research

She has reported that when these pDC interact with HIV, they get activated to release a huge amount of alpha-interferon (IFN-alpha). The latter is the active anti-HIV component of human immune system.

in-vitro contradiction

However, the reported result has been contradicted by the previous in-vitro studies, which had found out that human pDC (stimulated by HIV-1) lead the CD4+ T cells to become Tregs; the latter suppress immune response. Moreover, it was also observed that the Tregs produced an in-vitro inhibition of maturation of Bystander Conventional Dendritic Cells (that help initiate immune response), thereby damping the immune response against the retro-virus.

Conclusion

These two observations led the researchers to fuse thabove two phenomena and it was concluded that pDC help evoke immune response against HIV by production of more and more INF-alpha; however, they also suppress the immunity to prevent excessive immune activation and thereby preventing self-damage to host itself (since, it inturn prevents Tregs formation).

Reference

http://www.medindia.com/news/Immune-Cells-Stimulated-by-HIV-Generate-Cel...