Fig 2. eSF-mediated enhancement of HIV infection of CD4+ T cells occurs with R5-tropic HIV, including T/F strains.
(A) PHA/IL2-activated PBMCs cultured with or without eSF were infected with the indicated R5-tropic HIV and monitored by flow cytometry for infection levels 3 d later. Results are gated on live, singlet CD3+CD8- cells. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001, ****p<0.0001 (by 2-tailed t test). (B) PHA/IL2-activated PBMCs were infected with X4-tropic NLENG1I or R5-tropic BaLGFP in the absence or presence of eSF from 3 different donors, and monitored 3 d later for levels of productive infection. Results are gated on live, singlet CD3+CD8- cells. ****p<0.0001 relative to no coculture in a group-wise comparison (one-way analysis of variance with a Bonferroni posttest). (C) Fold-enhancement of BaLGFP infection of PBMCs when comparing infection rates in the presence versus absence of eSF. Shown on the left are fold-enhancements mediated by six different donors of eSF, where each shape corresponds to one eSF donor (mean: 12-fold). Shown on the right are fold-enhancements mediated by four different donors of PBMCs, where each shape corresponds to one PBMC donor (mean: 12-fold). (D) PHA/IL2-activated PBMCs were infected with a T/F full-length GFP-IMC THROGFP in the absence or presence of eSF from 3 different donors, and monitored 3 d later for levels of productive infection. Results are gated on live, singlet CD3+CD8- cells. **p<0.01, **p<0.01, ****p<0.0001 relative to no coculture in a group-wise comparison (one-way analysis of variance with a Bonferroni posttest).