Omole Tosin E, McKinnon Lyle R
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
J Clin Invest. 2025 Aug 1;135(15). doi: 10.1172/JCI195258.
Cellular susceptibility to HIV is associated with integrin α4β7, a mucosal homing receptor involved with trafficking HIV target cells to sites of HIV replication. However, studies investigating preinfection α4β7 expression as a predictor of HIV outcomes have yielded inconsistent findings, raising questions about the role of α4β7 in HIV acquisition across populations. In this issue of the JCI, Machmach et al. assessed PBMCs collected before HIV infection and found higher α4β7 expression on memory CD4+ T cells and invariant NK T (iNKT) cells in individuals who went on to acquire HIV. Here, we consider possible explanations that may underlie discrepancies among studies and suggest that α4β7 should be considered as part of a multifactorial profile for determining HIV risk. While unlikely to serve as a target for HIV prevention or therapy, α4β7-directed interventions may offer adjunctive benefits in preserving or improving mucosal immunity.
细胞对HIV的易感性与整合素α4β7相关，α4β7是一种黏膜归巢受体，参与将HIV靶细胞转运至HIV复制位点。然而，关于将感染前α4β7表达作为HIV感染结果预测指标的研究结果并不一致，这引发了关于α4β7在不同人群中HIV感染过程中作用的疑问。在本期《临床研究杂志》中，马赫马赫等人评估了在HIV感染前采集的外周血单个核细胞（PBMC），发现后续感染HIV的个体中，记忆性CD4+T细胞和不变自然杀伤T（iNKT）细胞上的α4β7表达较高。在此，我们思考了可能导致研究结果存在差异的潜在原因，并建议在确定HIV感染风险时，应将α4β7视为多因素特征的一部分。虽然α4β7不太可能成为HIV预防或治疗的靶点，但针对α4β7的干预措施可能在维持或改善黏膜免疫方面带来辅助益处。
