Table 1.
Clinical characteristics.
Fig 1.
NK cells and subsets distribution.
Blood samples were stained with fluorescent-labeled antibodies and tested by flow cytometry. (A) Representative dot plots, showing the gating strategies used to assess NK cells, and CD56dimCD16+ or CD56brightCD16− NK cell subsets. The median frequency (B) and absolute count (C) of NK cells were shown in immunologic non-responders, immunologic responders, and healthy controls. The median frequencies of CD56dimCD16+ (D) or CD56brightCD16− subsets (E) in NK cells were shown in the three study groups.
Fig 2.
NK cell activation in treated HIV disease.
(A) Dot plots represent the gating strategies from one representative donor of each study group. The median frequencies of CD38+HLA-DR+ NK cells (B) and NK cell subsets (C) among healthy controls, immunologic responders, and immunologic non-responders. The median frequencies of CD107a+ on NK cells (D) and NK cell subsets (E) in healthy controls, immunologic responders, and immunologic non-responders. The median frequencies of NKG2D+ on NK cells (F) and NK cell subsets (G) in healthy controls, immunologic responders, and immunologic non-responders.
Fig 3.
Correlations of NK cell activation in healthy controls and ART-treated HIV disease.
Correlations between the percentages of CD107a-expressing NK cells and co-expression of CD38 and HLA-DR on NK cells in healthy controls (A) and HIV+ subjects (B), between the percentages of CD107a-expressing NK cells and NKG2D-expressing NK cells in healthy controls (C) and HIV+ subjects (D), and between the percentages of NKG2D-expressing NK cells and co-expression of CD38 and HLA-DR on NK cells in healthy controls (E) and HIV+ subjects (F).
Fig 4.
NK cell activation and peripheral CD4+ T cell counts.
Correlations between the percentages of co-expression of CD38 and HLA-DR on NK cells and CD4+ T cell counts in healthy controls (A) and HIV+ subjects (B), between the percentages of CD107a-expressing NK cells and CD4+ T cell counts in healthy controls (C) and HIV+ subjects (D), and between the percentages of NKG2D-expressing NK cells and CD4+ T cell counts in healthy controls (E) and HIV+ subjects (F).
Table 2.
Correlations between NK cell subset activation and CD4+ T cell counts in HIV+ subjects.
Fig 5.
NK cells from immunologic non-responders mediate CD4+ T cell death in vitro.
NK cells were isolated from 5 healthy controls and 5 ART-treated viral-suppressed immunologic non-responders. CD4+ T cells were isolated from the same healthy donor. CD4+ T cells were cultured with isolated NK cells at a ratio of 1:3. The percentage of CD4+ T cell cytolysis was analyzed. (A) Dot plots were shown from a representative healthy control donor and a representative HIV+ donor. (B) The median percentages of CD4+ T cell cytolysis were shown with co-cultured NK cells from healthy controls and immunologic non-responders.