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. 2015 Jun 18;5:10010. doi: 10.1038/srep10010

Figure 5. HIV-specific CTL are deficient in their ability to degranulate CD107a, form conjugates and kill HIV-infected cells upon treatment with cocaine.

Figure 5

(a) HIV-specific CTL were co-incubated with HIV-expressing U1 cells at an 1:1 effector to target ratio or were treated with 10 μg/ml PHA and 100 U/ml IL-2 for 6 hr in the presence of protein transport inhibitors and antibodies to CD107a. Cocaine treatment of CTL resulted in a two-fold reduction in CD107a degranulation when CTL were co-cultured with HIV-infected cells and 26% less CD107a degranulation when CTL were maximally stimulated with PHA and IL-2 treatment. (b and c) HIV-specific CTL were co-incubated with HIV-expressing U1 cells at the defined effector to target ratios for 4 hr and subsequently assessed for their ability to induce (b) conjugate formation with or (c) apoptosis in target U1 cells. Cocaine treatment of CTL resulted in significantly impaired conjugate formation at all E:T ratios tested, which was further underscored by the significant loss in apoptosis induction of U1 target cells. Statistical significance was assessed by two-way ANOVA analysis, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.