Host KIR/HLA-C Genotypes Determine HIV-Mediated Changes of the NK Cell Repertoire and Are Associated With Vpu Sequence Variations Impacting Downmodulation of HLA-C

Abstract

NK cells play a pivotal role in viral immunity, utilizing a large array of activating and inhibitory receptors to identify and eliminate virus-infected cells. Killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) represent a highly polymorphic receptor family, regulating NK cell activity and determining the ability to recognize target cells. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecules serve as the primary ligand for KIRs. Herein, HLA-C stands out as being the dominant ligand for the majority of KIRs. Accumulating evidence indicated that interactions between HLA-C and its inhibitory KIR2DL receptors (KIR2DL1/L2/L3) can drive HIV-1-mediated immune evasion and thus may contribute to the intrinsic control of HIV-1 infection. Of particular interest in this context is the recent observation that HIV-1 is able to adapt to hostHLA-Cgenotypes through Vpu-mediated downmodulation of HLA-C. However, our understanding of the complex interplay betweenKIR/HLAimmunogenetics, NK cell-mediated immune pressure and HIV-1 immune escape is still limited. Therefore, we investigated the impact of specificKIR/HLA-Ccombinations on the NK cell receptor repertoire and HIV-1 Vpu protein sequence variations of 122 viremic, untreated HIV-1+individuals. Compared to 60 HIV-1-controls, HIV-1 infection was associated with significant changes within the NK cell receptor repertoire, including reduced percentages of NK cells expressing NKG2A, CD8, and KIR2DS4. In contrast, the NKG2C+and KIR3DL2+NK cell sub-populations from HIV-1+individuals was enlarged compared to HIV-1-controls. Stratification alongKIR/HLA-Cgenotypes revealed a genotype-dependent expansion of KIR2DL1+NK cells that was ultimately associated with increased binding affinities between KIR2DL1 and HLA-C allotypes. Lastly, our data hinted to a preferential selection of Vpu sequence variants that were associated with HLA-C downmodulation in individuals with high KIR2DL/HLA-C binding affinities. Altogether, our study provides evidence that HIV-1-associated changes in the KIR repertoire of NK cells are to some extent predetermined by hostKIR2DL/HLA-Cgenotypes. Furthermore, analysis of Vpu sequence polymorphisms indicates that differential KIR2DL/HLA-C binding affinities may serve as an additional mechanism how host genetics impact immune evasion by HIV-1.