Influence of pregnancy on the specificity and breadth of antigen recognition by HIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes

Elyse Jolette¹^,2, Johanne Samson³, Normand Lapointe³^,4, Marc Boucher³^,5 and Hugo Soudeyns¹^,2^,4

¹Unité d'immunopathologie virale, CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1C5

²Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3C 3J7

³Centre maternel et infantile sur le SIDA, CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1C5

⁴Department of Pediatrics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3C 3J7

⁵Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3C 3J7

corresponding author email

from Fourth Dominique Dormont International Conference. Host-Pathogen Interactions in Chronic Infections
Paris, France. 13-15 December 2007

Retrovirology 2008, 5(Suppl 1):O7doi:10.1186/1742-4690-5-S1-O7


Published:	9 April 2008

First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV-1 is one of the major issues of the pandemic. Characterization of HIV-specific immunity during pregnancy, especially cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), will lead to a better understanding of HIV pathogenesis and facilitate design of optimal strategies to prevent MTCT. Our objective is to define the influence of initiation and progression of pregnancy on the antigenic specificity and breadth of antigenic recognition by HIV-specific CTL.