Fig. 2: MAIT cell activation in acute HIV-1 infection.

a Median expression of markers of activation and exhaustion (HLA-DR, PD-1, CD38, TIGIT, and GrzB) in MAIT cells in PBMC as assessed by flow cytometry displayed over time in acute HIV-1 infection (n = 19). b The fold change of gene expression compared to pre-infection of individual genes (CD38, HLADRA, TIGIT, PDCD1, GZMB, MKI67, and IRF4) in three post-infection time points in acute HIV-1 infection from bulk sorted MAIT cells (n = 20). c Correlation of IRF4 and d, MKI67 gene expression in bulk sorted MAIT cells with the protein expression of markers activation (HLA-DR, PD-1, and CD38) at the post-infection time point corresponding with peak VL (median 16 days since first positive test for HIV-1 RNA) (n = 20). e Correlation of gene expression of IRF4 in sorted MAIT cells with MAIT cell absolute counts, or f, MAIT cell frequency at two post-infection time points corresponding with set point VL (median 43 days since first positive test for HIV) or early chronic infection (n = 20). *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001. In a, statistical analysis was performed using the nonparametric Friedman test with the Dunn’s multiple comparison test; in c, d, e, and f correlative analyses were performed using Spearman Rank correlation test. In a, significance indicated is valid for all markers displayed. PBMC, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells. MAIT cells are identified as CD161 + + Vα7.2 + within CD3 + CD14-CD19- live lymphocytes. VL viral load. The source data underlying a and b are provided as a Source Data file.