Transcriptional profiling of CD4+T cells derived from HIV-1 elite controllers

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dc.contributor.authorStansell, Alexander Colin
dc.date.accessioned2021-04-30T14:05:40Z
dc.date.available2021-04-30T14:05:40Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.descriptionDissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand n fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, 2020en_ZA
dc.description.abstractHIV-1 is still a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It infects CD4+T cell subsets, where it establishes a latent reservoir of virus that cannot be cleared by host immune responses. In most individuals, progressive infection leads to immune collapse and the development of opportunistic pathogens and cancers that cause mortality. Within all HIV-1 patients a small subset known as elite controllers establish stringent immune control over HIV-1 without the need for antiretroviral therapy. Transcriptional differences in CD4+T cell subsets with in the context of elite control have yet to be fully described. This study used RNA sequencing data to transcriptionally profile Naive (TN), Central Memory (TCM) and Effector Memory (TEM) CD4+T cell subsets derived from HIV-1 elite controllers. It aimed to identify differences in immune control mechanisms between T cell subsets. This project used stringent quality processing, normalisation, alignment and quantification methods to ascertain gene expression level, and identify transcriptional differences in T cell subsets and co-expressed gene networks. Three distinct methodologies for identifying co-expressed genes were compared. Findings showed similarities between TCM and TEM subsets, that likely reflect commonalities in their differentiation states, as well as between TN and TCM subsets that likely reflect commonalities in function. TN and TEM subsets were found to have the greatest number of differences with respect to their transcriptional profiles; which upon further investigation, were found to reflect differences in viral transcription, differentiation and cellular activationen_ZA
dc.description.librarianCK2021en_ZA
dc.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/31056
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.schoolSchool of Molecular and Cell Biologyen_ZA
dc.titleTranscriptional profiling of CD4+T cells derived from HIV-1 elite controllersen_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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