Differential mDC activation and tissue chemokine expression in lymph nodes correlates with disease progression.

<p>(A) Representative flow cytometry plots showing the gating strategy used to define CD11c⁺ mDC within the Lineage⁻ HLA-DR⁺ fraction of peripheral lymph node cell suspensions. (B) The number of mDC in lymph nodes as a proportion of Lineage⁻ HLA-DR⁺ cells at intervals before and after SIV infection. Shown are mean ± SEM for naïve (T = 0, n = 18), progressor (n = 7) and stable animals (n = 10). (C) The proportion of lymph node mDC expressing CCR7, CD40, CD80 and CD86 relative to staining with a control antibody before and 12 weeks after SIV infection (left) and the mean fluorescence intensity of HLA-DR expression on lymph node mDC at week 12 post infection (right). Shown are mean ± SEM for naïve (n = 8), progressor (n = 6) and stable animals (n = 6). (D) Representative flow cytometry plots showing gating strategy to identify positive cell populations. (E) Expression of CCL19 and CCL21 mRNA in lymph node cell suspensions prior to infection (naïve) and at 12 weeks post infection for animals with stable and progressive infection. mRNA expression levels were calculated using the 2^−ΔC_T method using [beta]-GUS as the endogenous control. The fold change in expression was calculated by normalizing to the mean 2^−ΔC_T of the naïve group. Shown are mean ± SEM of 4 animals in each group. *<i>P</i><0.05, **<i>P</i><0.01. ART = interval of antiretroviral therapy.