BioProject

HTLV-1 preferentially infects CD4+ T cells and these cells play a central role in HTLV-1 infection. More...

HTLV-1 preferentially infects CD4+ T cells and these cells play a central role in HTLV-1 infection. In this study, we investigated the global gene expression profile of circulating CD4+ T cells from distinct clinical status of HTLV-1-infected individuals in regard to Tax expression levels. CD4+ T cells were isolated from asymptomatic HTLV-1 carrier (HAC) and HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) patients, in order to identify genes involved in the HAM/TSP development. Hierarchical clustering analysis showed that healthy controls (CT) and HTLV-1-infected samples clustered separately. We also observed that HAC and HAM/TSP groups clustered separately regardless Tax expression. The gene expression profile of CD4+ T cells was compared among CT, HAC and HAM/TSP groups. The IL-27, PXN, CXCR4, GZMA, PRF1 and Foxp3 genes were differentially expressed between HAC and HAM/TSP groups and the frequency of CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) were higher in HTLV-1-infected individuals. These findings suggest that CD4+ T cells activity is distinct between HAC and HAM/TSP groups as expected. Overall design: In order to study the transcriptional changes in CD4 T cell from HTLV-1-infected individuals, immunomagnetically purified CD4+ T-cells from the peripheral blood of 4 asymptomatic HTLV-1 carrier individuals (HAC) and 4 individuals with HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), as well as from 4 healthy controls (CT) were isolated and processed the microarray assay according Agilent's protocol. The differential expressed genes, molecular characterization and networks analysis were evaluated using robust bioinformatic tools, then the real time PCR was done to validate the genes. Less...