Abstract

LP-BM5 retrovirus induces a complex disease featuring an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome termed murine AIDS (MAIDS) in susceptible strains of mice, such as C57BL/6 (B6). CD4 T helper effector cells are required for MAIDS induction and progression of viral pathogenesis. CD8 T cells are not needed for viral pathogenesis, but rather, are essential for protection from disease in resistant strains, such as BALB/c. We have discovered an immunodominant cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitope encoded in a previously unrecognized LP-BM5 retroviral alternative (+1 nucleotide [nt]) gag translational open reading frame. CTLs specific for this cryptic gag epitope are the basis of protection from LP-BM5-induced immunodeficiency in BALB/c mice, and the inability of B6 mice to mount an anti-gag CTL response appears critical to the initiation and progression of LP-BM5-induced MAIDS. However, uninfected B6 mice primed by LP-BM5-induced tumors can generate CTL responses to an LP-BM5 retrovirus infection-associated epitope(s) that is especially prevalent on such MAIDS tumor cells, indicating the potential to mount a protective CD8 T-cell response. Here, we utilized this LP-BM5 retrovirus-induced disease system to test whether modulation of normal immune down-regulatory mechanisms can alter retroviral pathogenesis. Thus, following in vivo depletion of CD4 T regulatory (Treg) cells and/or selective interruption of PD-1 negative signaling in the CD8 T-cell compartment, retroviral pathogenesis was significantly decreased, with the combined treatment of CD4 Treg cell depletion and PD-1 blockade working in a synergistic fashion to substantially reduce the induction of MAIDS.