Dr. Madison Schank presented a seminar on November 5, 2024 for the Department of Biomedical Sciences Internal Seminar Series. The seminar's title was “Mitochondrial Functions and T-cell Homeostasis are Compromised in CD4 T-cells from ART-Controlled PLHIV.”
The hallmark of HIV/AIDS is a gradual depletion of CD4 T cells. Despite effective control by antiretroviral therapy (ART), a significant subgroup of people living with HIV (PLHIV) fails to achieve complete immune reconstitution, deemed as immune non-responders (INRs). The mechanisms underlying incomplete CD4 T cell recovery in PLHIV remain unclear. In her seminar, Dr. Schank described ongoing research in the Yao lab, explaining, “Transcriptional profiling and flow cytometry analysis showed remarkable repression of mitochondrial transcription factor A (mtTFA) in CD4 T cells from people living with HIV, leading to abnormal mitochondrial and T cell homeostasis. These results demonstrate a sequential cellular paradigm of T cell over-activation, proliferation, exhaustion, senescence, apoptosis, and depletion, which correlates with compromised mitochondrial functions. Therefore, reconstituting the mtTFA pathway may provide an adjunctive immunological approach to revitalizing CD4 T cells in ART-treated people living with HIV, especially in immune non-responders.”
Dr. Schank is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Zhi Q. Yao’s lab.She completed her PhD in Biomedical Science with a concentration in Immunology, Inflammation and Infectious Diseases at East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine in 2022. Dr. Schank is currently supported as a National Institute on Aging Diversity Supplement Scholar under Dr. Juan Zhao’s parent R15 award.