RNA sequencing of naïve, activated and HIV-1 infected CD4+ T cells

CD4+ T cells play a major role in immune function regulation. Naive CD4+ T cells undergo major transcriptional changes upon activation through simultaneous engagement of the T-cell receptor and co-stimulatory molecules (anti-CD3/anti-CD28). Activated CD4+ T cells are the preferential target of HIV-1. Both T cell activation and HIV-1 infection modulate the expression and splicing of multiple genes. This study characterizes the transcriptome of naive, activated, and activated-HIV-1 infected CD4+ T cells from 3 healthy donors using bulk RNA-Seq, with validation of gene expression and alternative splicing by RT-qPCR and RT-PCR respectively.