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Background:

Innate immunity, including natural killer (NK) cells, may play a significant role in maintaining natural resistance to infection in highly HIV-exposed seronegative (HESN) subjects. The differences between NK-cell subsets, regarding their activating/maturing marker expression and their memory markers, in HESN subjects are not fully defined.

Methods:

We have conducted an analysis of the activating/memory markers and intracellular CD107a and interferon γ (IFN-γ) expression in NK-cell subsets from HESN and HIV-infected and healthy subjects.

Results:

HESN individuals showed an increased expression of activating markers, such as NKG2D in CD56 bright and CD56 dim NK cells, and an increased frequency of CD56 bright CD127+ and fully mature CD56 dim CD57+ NK cells compared with HIV-infected patients and healthy control subjects. Of note, HESN individuals showed an increased frequency of …