Figure 1. Unstimulated endometrial T cells are highly susceptible to infection by CCR5-tropic HIV.

(A) FACS plots demonstrating a distinct population of productively-infected endometrial T cells (ETs) following exposure to the HIV reporter strain F4.HSA. Unstimulated ETs were mock-treated or exposed to F4.HSA for 3 days and then analyzed by FACS. Shown is the gating strategy leading to identification of HIV-infected ETs, representative of 4 independent donors. (B) Representative FACS plots of uninfected and infected cultures of PBMCs (unstimulated or PHA-stimulated), unstimulated tonsillar human lymphoid aggregate (HLAC) cultures, or unstimulated ETs. Cells were mock-treated or inoculated with F4.HSA, and monitored 3 days later by FACS for levels of productive infection. Left: Uninfected controls. Right: Infected cultures. Results are gated on live, singlet CD3+CD8- cells and are representative of 4 independent donors. (C) ETs are significantly more susceptible than PBMCs and tonsils to infection by F4.HSA. Results of FACS analysis from 4 independent donors gated on live, singlet CD3+CD8- cells. **p<0.01 as assessed using the Student’s unpaired t test.

Figure 1—figure supplement 1. Transduction-enhancing fibrils promote HIV infection of endometrial T cells.

Unstimulated endometrial cells were mock-treated or infected with F4. HSA, either in the absence of any viral enhancing factor, or in the presence of 50 μg/ml EF-C or 100 μg/ml SEM86. Cells were monitored by FACS 3 days later for infection rates. Of note, 100 μg/ml is a physiologically relevant concentration of SEM86, similar to that found in semen (Roan et al., 2014). Left: Uninfected control. Right: F4.HSA-exposed cultures. Results are gated on live, singlet CD3+CD8- cells. Shown are data representative of 3 independent donors.