Fig. 2
Immune activation and latency reversal after stimulation of CD8 depleted PBMC with antigenic peptide pools measured by real-time RT-qPCR of released virions. a Flow cytometric detection of CD69 expression levels on CD4 T cells after 48 hours of stimulation with the indicated peptide pools. All peptide pools were used at a concentration of 1 µg/ml per peptide. b Expression levels of cell-free HIV-1 Gag RNA after seven days of stimulation with the indicated peptide pools measured by real-time RT-qPCR detecting HIV-1 Gag (n = 9). Cells were incubated in the presence of raltegravir to prevent viral propagation. The values graphed are the means of quadruplicate samples (5 × 106 CD8 depleted cells for each sample) for each participant and each condition. Each participant’s cells are shown using a distinct symbol; the open and closed circles are cells from the same participant obtained on two occasions approximately one year apart. Values were normalized to the positive control (antibodies to CD3 and CD69) for each participant. DMSO is the negative control