Impaired differentiation of small airway basal stem/progenitor cells in people living with HIV

With highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), higher incidence of airway abnormalities is common in the HIV population consistent with the concept of accelerated lung “aging”. Our previous findings demonstrated that HIV induces human airway basal cells (BC) into destructive and inflammatory phenotypes. Since BC function as stem/progenitor cells of the small airway epithelium (SAE), responsible for self-renewal and differentiation of SAE, we hypothesized that BC from people living with HIV (PLWH) may have altered differentiation capacity that contribute to premature aging. The data demonstrates that BC from PLWH have impaired capacity to differentiate in vitro and senescent phenotypes including shortened telomeres, increased expression of β-galactosidase and cell cycle inhibitors, and mitochondrial dysfunction. In vitro studies demonstrated that BC senescence is partly due to adverse effects of HAART on BC. These findings provide an explanation for higher incidence of airway dysfunction and accelerated lung aging observed in PLWH.