HIV-1–derived vectors displaying human IL-7 share biologic properties with recombinant IL-7.

Purified adult memory and naive CD4⁺ T cells were incubated with IL-7–displaying lentiviral vectors (G/IL7SU, G/IL7SUx) for 6 days and expression of the CD71 activation marker was monitored. Expression was compared with that observed following incubation with VSV-G–pseudotyped vectors alone (G). As controls, T cells were incubated with VSV-G–pseudotyped vectors in the presence of rIL-7 (15 ng/mL), G+rIL-7, or with anti-CD3 scFv-displaying lentiviral vectors (G/OKT3SU). For each histogram, the mean fluorescence intensity of CD71 expression (MFI) is indicated in brackets. The data presented are representative of 3 independent experiments.