Distinct gene expression profiles associated with the susceptibility of pathogen-specific CD4+ T cells to HIV-1 infection

Background HIV infection causes the progressive depletion of CD4+ T cells. Contrary to the early loss of CD4 response to opportunistic pathogens like Candida albicans, cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific CD4 response is persistent when total CD4+ T cell number is low. The mechanism is less clear. Despite considerable knowledge for the impact of HIV infection on total CD4+ T cells and their subsets, little is known about HIV infection of CD4+ T cells of different pathogen/antigen (Ag) specificity.