Il-7 Up-Regulates Hiv-1 Replication In Naturally Infected Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

We have investigated the effect of exogenous IL-7 on replication of HIV-1 in PBMCs isolated from asymptomatic, chronically infected donors. We show that IL-7 induced virus replication and increased proviral DNA levels in CD8(-) PBMC cultures, IL-7 also increased the levels of doubly spliced HIV-1 tat RNA in these cultures. In comparison, IL-2 induced lower levels of virus production than IL-7, but had a more pronounced effect on cell proliferation, The IL-7-mediated increase in virus replication was not inhibited by neutralizing mAbs to IL-1 beta, IL-2, IL-6, or TNF-alpha, and was only partially dependent on ligation of the T cell accessory molecule CD28, CD8(+) cells inhibited the increase in viral replication following IL-7 stimulation, but did not prevent virus replication following ligation of CD3 in the presence of IL-7, The data shows that IL-7 regulates HIV-1 replication in naturally infected PBMCs.