In Vivo Assessment of Natural Killer Cell Responses during Chronic Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Accumulating evidence suggests that natural killer (NK) cells may have an important role in HIV-1 disease pathogenesis; however, in vivo studies are lacking. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection of cats provides a valuable model to study NK cell function in vivo. The immune response against Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is well characterized, allowing its use as an innate immune probe. We have previously shown that locally delivered IL-15 can improve Lm clearance in FIV-infected animals, and this correlated with an increase in NK cell number. In the present study, chronically FIV-infected and SPF-control cats were challenged with Lm by unilateral subcutaneous injection next to the footpad and then treated with 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU). The Lm draining and contralateral control lymph nodes were evaluated for NK, NKT, CD4+ and CD8+ T cell number, proliferation, apoptosis, and NK cell function. Listeria monocytogenes burden was also assessed in both control and Lm draining lymph nodes. NK, NKT, CD4+ T and CD8+ T cells in the Lm-challenged lymph node of FIV-infected cats did not increase in number. In addition, after Lm challenge, NK cells from FIV-infected cats did not increase their proliferation rate, apoptosis was elevated, and perforin expression was not upregulated when compared to SPF-control cats. The failure of the NK cell response against Lm challenge in the draining lymph node of FIV-infected cats correlates with the delayed control and clearance of this opportunistic bacterial pathogen.