1. GC TFH cells exhibit HIV antigen–driven clonal expansion and selection.
GC TFH cells exhibit HIV antigen–driven clonal expansion and selection. (A) Gag-specific TCR clones overlap with HIV+ LN CD4+ T cell populations. Each thin slice of the arc represents a unique TCR sequence, ordered by the clone size (darker green for larger clones, inner circle). Gray curves indicate Gag-specific TCR nucleotide sequences found in naïve (gray, outer circle), memory (blue, outer circle), and GC TFH (orange, outer circle) populations. No Gag-overlapping clones were detected for one individual, H8 (not shown). (B) Number of Gag-specific TCR clones observed in naïve, memory, and GC TFH populations. Gray lines link the same patient. Bars indicate means (P values by two-tailed paired t test). (C) Mean clone size of Gag-specific T cells, HA-specific T cells, and bulk clones of unknown specificity from the GC TFH population. (D) Number of distinct nucleotide (nt) sequences per CDR3 amino acid (aa) sequence for Gag-specific T cells, HA-specific T cells, or bulk GC TFH cells. Data from all four individuals were aggregated for (C) and (D). Error bars indicate SEM. N.S., not significant. ***P < by two-tailed t test.
Ben S. Wendel et al. Sci. Immunol. 2018;3:eaan8884
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