scholarly journals Silencing of Unintegrated Retroviral DNAs

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2248
Author(s):  
Stephen P. Goff

Retroviral infection delivers an RNA genome into the cytoplasm that serves as the template for the synthesis of a linear double-stranded DNA copy by the viral reverse transcriptase. Within the nucleus this linear DNA gives rise to extrachromosomal circular forms, and in a key step of the life cycle is inserted into the host genome to form the integrated provirus. The unintegrated DNA forms, like those of DNAs entering cells by other means, are rapidly loaded with nucleosomes and heavily silenced by epigenetic histone modifications. This review summarizes our present understanding of the silencing machinery for the DNAs of the mouse leukemia viruses and human immunodeficiency virus type 1. We consider the potential impact of the silencing on virus replication, on the sensing of the virus by the innate immune system, and on the formation of latent proviruses. We also speculate on the changeover to high expression from the integrated proviruses in permissive cell types, and briefly consider the silencing of proviruses even after integration in embryonic stem cells and other developmentally primitive cell types.

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (17) ◽  
pp. 7944-7955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noriko Nakajima ◽  
Richard Lu ◽  
Alan Engelman

ABSTRACT Functional retroviral integrase protein is thought to be essential for productive viral replication. Yet, previous studies differed on the extent to which integrase mutant viruses expressed human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genes from unintegrated DNA. Although one reason for this difference was that class II integrase mutations pleiotropically affected the viral life cycle, another reason apparently depended on the identity of the infected cell. Here, we analyzed integrase mutant viral infectivities in a variety of cell types. Single-round infectivity of class I integration-specific mutant HIV-1 ranged from <0.03 to 0.3% of that of the wild type (WT) across four different T-cell lines. Based on this approximately 10-fold influence of cell type on mutant gene expression, we examined class I and class II mutant replication kinetics in seven different cell lines and two primary cell types. Unexpectedly, some cell lines supported productive class I mutant viral replication under conditions that restricted class II mutant growth. Cells were defined as permissive, semipermissive, or nonpermissive based on their ability to support the continual passage of class I integration-defective HIV-1. Mutant infectivity in semipermissive and permissive cells as quantified by 50% tissue culture infectious doses, however, was only 0.0006 to 0.005% of that of WT. Since the frequencies of mutant DNA recombination in these lines ranged from 0.023 to <0.093% of the WT, we conclude that productive replication in the absence of integrase function most likely required the illegitimate integration of HIV-1 into host chromosomes by cellular DNA recombination enzymes.


2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (18) ◽  
pp. 8550-8557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gene G. Olinger ◽  
Mohammed Saifuddin ◽  
Gregory T. Spear

ABSTRACT The ability of human immunodeficiency virus strain MN (HIVMN), a T-cell line-adapted strain of HIV, and X4 and R5 primary isolates to bind to various cell types was investigated. In general, HIVMN bound to cells at higher levels than did the primary isolates. Virus bound to both CD4-positive (CD4+) and CD4-negative (CD4−) cells, including neutrophils, Raji cells, tonsil mononuclear cells, erythrocytes, platelets, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), although virus bound at significantly higher levels to PBMC. However, there was no difference in the amount of HIV that bound to CD4-enriched or CD4-depleted PBMC. Virus bound to CD4− cells was up to 17 times more infectious for T cells in cocultures than was the same amount of cell-free virus. Virus bound to nucleated cells was significantly more infectious than virus bound to erythrocytes or platelets. The enhanced infection of T cells by virus bound to CD4− cells was not due to stimulatory signals provided by CD4− cells or infection of CD4− cells. However, anti-CD18 antibody substantially reduced the enhanced virus replication in T cells, suggesting that virus that bound to the surface of CD4−cells is efficiently passed to CD4+ T cells during cell-cell adhesion. These studies show that HIV binds at relatively high levels to CD4− cells and, once bound, is highly infectious for T cells. This suggests that virus binding to the surface of CD4− cells is an important route for infection of T cells in vivo.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (9) ◽  
pp. 5540-5546 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Nickle ◽  
Mark A. Jensen ◽  
Daniel Shriner ◽  
Scott J. Brodie ◽  
Lisa M. Frenkel ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In vivo virologic compartments are cell types or tissues between which there is a restriction of virus flow, while virologic reservoirs are cell types or tissues in which there is a relative restriction of replication. The distinction between reservoirs and compartments is important because therapies that would be effective against a reservoir may not be effective against viruses produced by a given compartment, and vice versa. For example, the use of cytokines to “flush out” long-lived infected cells in patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (T. W. Chun, D. Engel, M. M. Berrey, T. Shea, L. Corey, and A. S. Fauci, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:8869-8873, 1998) may be successful for a latent reservoir but may not impact a compartment in which virus continues to replicate because of poor drug penetration. Here, we suggest phylogenetic criteria to illustrate, define, and differentiate between reservoirs and compartments. We then apply these criteria to the analysis of simulated and actual human immunodeficiency virus type 1 sequence data sets. We report that existing statistical methods work quite well at detecting viral compartments, and we learn from simulations that viral divergence from a calculated most recent common ancestor is a strong predictor of viral reservoirs.


2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (19) ◽  
pp. 10515-10523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty Poon ◽  
Michael A. Chang ◽  
Irvin S. Y. Chen

ABSTRACT Unintegrated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) DNA are viral DNA products formed naturally during HIV replication. While the integrated proviral DNA form is transcriptionally active and results in productive infection, unintegrated DNA is also capable of expression of viral RNA and proteins. Previously, we showed that HIV Vpr enhances expression from integrase-defective HIV. Here we show that Vpr activation of expression is partially dependent upon the presence of a transcriptionally active HIV promoter and results in increased transcription of unspliced gag and spliced nef viral RNA. While Tat is detectable during infection with integrase-defective HIV, Tat levels are not affected by the presence of Vpr. Mutation studies reveal that Tat is dispensable for the Vpr-mediated enhancement of expression from unintegrated DNA. We find that virion-associated Vpr is sufficient for Nef expression from unintegrated viral DNA, resulting in the efficient downregulation of CD4 from the surface of infected cells. These results provide a mechanism by which Nef expression from unintegrated HIV type 1 DNA expression occurs.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (17) ◽  
pp. 9295-9304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Goujon ◽  
Loraine Jarrosson-Wuilleme ◽  
Jeanine Bernaud ◽  
Dominique Rigal ◽  
Jean-Luc Darlix ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Heterologous lentiviral vectors (LVs) represent a way to address safety concerns in the field of gene therapy by decreasing the possibility of genetic recombination between vector and packaging constructs and the generation of replication-competent viruses. Using described LVs based on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency virus MAC251 (SIVMAC251), we asked whether heterologous virion particles in which trans-acting factors belonged to HIV-1 and cis elements belonged to SIVMAC251 (HIV-siv) would behave as parental homologous vectors in all cell types. To our surprise, we found that although the heterologous HIV-siv vector was as infectious as its homologous counterpart in most human cells, it was defective in the transduction of dendritic cells (DCs) and, to a lesser extent, macrophages. In DCs, the main postentry defect was observed in the formation of two-long-terminal-repeat circles, despite the fact that full-length proviral DNA was being synthesized and was associated with the nucleus. Taken together, our data suggest that heterologous HIV-siv vectors display a cell-dependent infectivity defect, most probably at a post-nuclear entry migration step. As homologous HIV and SIV vectors do transduce DCs, we believe that these results underscore the importance of a conserved interaction between cis elements and trans-acting viral factors that is lost or suboptimal in heterologous vectors and essential only in the transduction of certain cell types. For gene therapy purposes, these findings indicate that the cellular tropism of LVs can be modulated not only through the use of distinct envelope proteins or tissue-specific promoters but also through the specific combinatorial use of packaging and transfer vector constructs.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catriona Kelly ◽  
Cara C. S. Flatt ◽  
Neville H. McClenaghan

The incidence of diabetes and the associated debilitating complications are increasing at an alarming rate worldwide. Current therapies for type 1 diabetes focus primarily on administration of exogenous insulin to help restore glucose homeostasis. However, such treatment rarely prevents the long-term complications of this serious metabolic disorder, including neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, and cardiovascular disease. Whole pancreas or islet transplantations have enjoyed limited success in some individuals, but these approaches are hampered by the shortage of suitable donors and the burden of lifelong immunosuppression. Here, we review current approaches to differentiate nonislet cell types towards an islet-cell phenotype which may be used for larger-scale cell replacement strategies. In particular, the differentiation protocols used to direct embryonic stem cells, progenitor cells of both endocrine and nonendocrine origin, and induced pluripotent stem cells towards an islet-cell phenotype are discussed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (17) ◽  
pp. 8990-8995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Henning ◽  
Scott G. Morham ◽  
Stephen P. Goff ◽  
Mojgan H. Naghavi

ABSTRACT In a yeast two-hybrid screen for cellular factors that could interact with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag protein, we identified PDZD8 and confirmed the interaction by coimmunoprecipitation (co-IP). PDZD8 overexpression promoted the initiation of reverse transcription and increased infection by pseudotyped retroviruses independent of the route of viral entry, while transient knockdown of endogenous levels decreased HIV-1 infection. A mutant of PDZD8 lacking a predicted coiled-coil domain in its Gag-interacting region failed to bind Gag and promote HIV-1 infection, identifying the domain of PDZD8 required for mediating these effects. As such, we identify PDZD8 as a novel positive mediator of retroviral infection.


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