Abstract
A small number of HIV-infected individuals known as elite controllers experience low levels of chronic phase viral replication and delayed progression to AIDS. Specific HLA class I alleles are associated with elite control, implicating CD8
+
T lymphocytes in the establishment of these low levels of viral replication. Most HIV-infected individuals that express protective HLA class I alleles, however, do not control viral replication. Approximately 50% of
Mamu-B*00801
+
Indian rhesus macaques control SIVmac239 replication in the chronic phase in a manner that resembles elite control in humans. We followed both the immune response and viral evolution in SIV-infected
Mamu-B*00801
+
animals to better understand the role of CD8
+
T lymphocytes during the acute phase of viral infection, when viral control status is determined. The virus escaped from immunodominant Vif and Nef Mamu-B*00801–restricted CD8
+
T lymphocyte responses during the critical early weeks of acute infection only in progressor animals that did not control viral replication. Thus, early CD8
+
T lymphocyte escape is a hallmark of
Mamu-B*00801
+
macaques who do not control viral replication. By contrast, virus in elite controller macaques showed little evidence of variation in epitopes recognized by immunodominant CD8
+
T lymphocytes, implying that these cells play a role in viral control.
