Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Follicular Dendritic Cells, Resting Cd4+ T Cells And Human Immunodeficiency Virus Expression, Changna Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Many events associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection/replication occur in and around the germinal centers (GCs) of secondary lymphoid tissues where follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) reside, suggesting that this microenvironment may contribute unique signaling that is important to viral progression. My research focused on characterizing signaling, both positive and negative, contributed by FDCs that affects HIV infection and replication. Specifically, I determined if FDC signals could induce the expression of latent HIV in T cells and if so, to characterize the signaling pathways involved. Moreover, I also examined the ability of FDCs to produce inhibitory signals that might block …