Fig. 3.

Loss of cytokine secretion and survival potential of HIV-specific CD8⁺ T cells during acute HIV infection. (A) Expression of CD127 on CD38⁺HLA-DR⁺CD45RA^-CD8⁺ T cells from 12 AHI stage 1, 13 stage 2, and 14 stage 3 individuals. (B) mRNA expression of IL7R, and STAT5A in CD38⁺HLA-DR⁺ cells. (C) IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2 production by CD38⁺HLA-DR⁺ cells from 9 AHI stages 1, 10 Stage 2, and 11 stage 3 individuals after anti-CD3 and CD28 Ab stimulation. (D) Correlation between plasma viral load and percentages of IL-2⁺ secreting cells within CD38⁺HLA-DR⁺ cells. (E) Percentage of live non-apoptotic cell recovery of CD38⁺HLA-DR⁺ effector CD8⁺ T cells from AHI stage 1-3 individuals based on their absolute cell numbers after 24hrs in vitro. (F) Percentages of apoptotic Annexin V^hi cells in ex vivo CD38⁺HLA-DR⁺ cells. (G) Correlation between plasma viral load and percentages of Annexin V^high cells in CD38⁺HLA-DR⁺ CD8⁺ T cells. (H) Correlation between ex vivo apoptotic CD38⁺HLA-DR⁺ cell percentage and staining intensity of MitoTracker Orange CM-H₂TMRos (Mitochondria membrane potential activity, Left) or CellRox Deep Red (total Ros level, Right) from 8 AHI stages 1, 8 Stage 2, and 8 stage 3 individuals. Differences between groups were analyzed by Mann-Whitney tests. Associations between two variables (p and r) were analyzed by Spearman correlations.*P< 0.05; **P< 0.01; ***P< 0.001; ****P< 0.0001.