Immune activation of vaginal human Langerhans cells increases susceptibility to HIV-1 infection.

Nienke H van Teijlingen, Julia Eder, Ramin Sarrami-Forooshani, Esther M Zijlstra-Willems, Jan-Paul W R Roovers, Elisabeth van Leeuwen, Carla M S Ribeiro, Teunis B H Geijtenbeek

Scientific reports 2023 Feb 25

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Vaginal inflammation increases the risk for sexual HIV-1 transmission but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study we assessed the impact of immune activation on HIV-1 susceptibility of primary human vaginal Langerhans cells (LCs). Vaginal LCs isolated from human vaginal tissue expressed a broad range of TLRs and became activated after exposure to both viral and bacterial TLR ligands. HIV-1 replication was restricted in immature vaginal LCs as only low levels of infection could be detected. Notably, activation of immature vaginal LCs by bacterial TLR ligands increased HIV-1 infection, whereas viral TLR ligands were unable to induce HIV-1 replication in vaginal LCs. Furthermore, mature vaginal LCs transmitted HIV-1 to CD4 T cells. This study emphasizes the role for vaginal LCs in protection against mucosal HIV-1 infection, which is abrogated upon activation. Moreover, our data suggest that bacterial STIs can increase the risk of HIV-1 acquisition in women. © 2023. The Author(s).

Citation

Nienke H van Teijlingen, Julia Eder, Ramin Sarrami-Forooshani, Esther M Zijlstra-Willems, Jan-Paul W R Roovers, Elisabeth van Leeuwen, Carla M S Ribeiro, Teunis B H Geijtenbeek. Immune activation of vaginal human Langerhans cells increases susceptibility to HIV-1 infection. Scientific reports. 2023 Feb 25;13(1):3283