Transcription of HIV-1 at sites of intact latent provirus integration [scRNA-seq]
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ABSTRACT: The study examined proviral and neighboring gene transcription at sites of intact latent HIV-1 integration in cultured T cells obtained directly from people living with HIV, as well as engineered primary T cells and cell lines and showed that the site of integration has a dominant effect on the transcriptional activity of intact HIV-1 proviruses in the latent reservoir
Project description:The study examined proviral and neighboring gene transcription at sites of intact latent HIV-1 integration in cultured T cells obtained directly from people living with HIV, as well as engineered primary T cells and cell lines and showed that the site of integration has a dominant effect on the transcriptional activity of intact HIV-1 proviruses in the latent reservoir
Project description:Antiretroviral therapy controls but does not cure HIV-1 infection due to a reservoir of rare CD4 + T cells harboring latent proviruses. Little is known about the transcriptional program of latent cells. Here we report a novel strategy to enrich clones of latent cells carrying intact, replication-competent HIV-1 proviruses from blood based on their expression of unique T cell receptors. Latent cell enrichment enabled single cell transcriptomic analysis of 1,050 CD4 + T cells belonging to expanded clones harboring intact HIV-1 proviruses from 6 different individuals. The analysis revealed that most of these cells are T effector memory cells that are enriched for expression of HLA-DR, HLA-DP, CD74, CCL5, Granzymes A and K, cystatin F, LYAR and DUSP2. We conclude that expanded clones of latent cells carrying intact HIV-1 proviruses persist preferentially in a distinct CD4 + T cell population opening new possibilities for eradication.
Project description:Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a chronic condition, where viral DNA integrates into the genome. The fate of the provirus determines the infection course. Latently infected cells form a persistent, heterogeneous reservoir. The reservoir that reinstates an active infection comprises cells with intact provirus that can be reactivated. We confirmed that latent cells from patients exhibited active transcription throughout the provirus. To find transcriptional determinants, we characterized the establishment and maintenance of latency during proviral chromatin maturation in primary CD4+ T-cells for four months after HIV infection. As heterochromatin (marked with H3K9me3 or H3K27me3) gradually stabilized, the provirus became less accessible and lost activation potential. In a subset of infected cells, active marks (i.e., H3K27ac) remained detectable, even after prolonged proviral silencing. After T-cell activation, the proviral activation occurred uniquely in cells with H3K27ac-marked proviruses. Our observations suggested that, after transient proviral activation, cells were actively returned to latency.
Project description:The latent reservoir of HIV persists for decades in people living with HIV (PWH) on antiretroviral therapy (ART). To determine if persistence arises from the natural dynamics of memory CD4+ T cells harboring HIV, we compared the clonal dynamics of HIV proviruses to that of memory CD4+ T cell receptors (TCRβ) from the same PWH and from HIV-seronegative people. We show that clonal dominance of HIV proviruses and antigen-specific CD4+ T cells are similar but that the field’s understanding of the persistence of the less clonally dominant reservoir is significantly limited by undersampling. We demonstrate that increasing reservoir clonality over time and differential decay of intact and defective proviruses cannot be explained by mCD4+ T cell kinetics alone. Finally, we develop a stochastic model of TCRβ and proviruses that recapitulates experimental observations and suggests that HIV-specific negative selection mediates approximately 6% of intact and 2% of defective proviral clearance. Thus, HIV persistence is mostly, but not entirely, driven by natural mCD4+ T cell kinetics.
Project description:Sustained, drug-free control of HIV-1 replication is naturally achieved in less than 0.5% of infected persons (“elite controllers”, ECs), despite the presence of a replication-competent viral reservoir. Such an ability to spontaneously maintain undetectable plasma viremia is a major objective of functional cure efforts, yet the characteristics of proviral reservoirs in ECs remain to be determined. Using single-genome, near full-length next-generation sequencing and chromosomal integration site analysis, we here show that proviral reservoirs of ECs frequently consist of oligoclonal to near monoclonal clusters of identical intact proviral sequences. In contrast to persons treated with long-term antiretroviral therapy, intact proviral species from ECs displayed highly distinct chromosomal integration sites in the human genome and were preferentially located in centromeric satellite DNA or in KRAB-ZNF genes on chromosome 19, both of which are associated with heterochromatin features. Moreover, integration sites of intact proviruses from ECs showed increased distance to host transcriptional start sites and accessible chromatin and were enriched for repressive chromatin marks. These data suggest that a distinct proviral reservoir configuration represents a structural correlate of natural viral control, and that quality rather than quantity of viral reservoirs can be an important distinguishing feature for a functional cure of HIV-1 infection. Moreover, failure to detect intact proviral sequences despite analyzing > 1.5 billion peripheral blood mononuclear cells in one EC raises the possibility that a sterilizing cure of HIV-1 infection, previously only observed following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, may be feasible in rare instances.
Project description:Sustained, drug-free control of HIV-1 replication is naturally achieved in less than 0.5% of infected persons (“elite controllers”, ECs), despite the presence of a replication-competent viral reservoir. Such an ability to spontaneously maintain undetectable plasma viremia is a major objective of functional cure efforts, yet the characteristics of proviral reservoirs in ECs remain to be determined. Using single-genome, near full-length next-generation sequencing and chromosomal integration site analysis, we here show that proviral reservoirs of ECs frequently consist of oligoclonal to near monoclonal clusters of identical intact proviral sequences. In contrast to persons treated with long-term antiretroviral therapy, intact proviral species from ECs displayed highly distinct chromosomal integration sites in the human genome and were preferentially located in centromeric satellite DNA or in KRAB-ZNF genes on chromosome 19, both of which are associated with heterochromatin features. Moreover, integration sites of intact proviruses from ECs showed increased distance to host transcriptional start sites and accessible chromatin and were enriched for repressive chromatin marks. These data suggest that a distinct proviral reservoir configuration represents a structural correlate of natural viral control, and that quality rather than quantity of viral reservoirs can be an important distinguishing feature for a functional cure of HIV-1 infection. Moreover, failure to detect intact proviral sequences despite analyzing > 1.5 billion peripheral blood mononuclear cells in one EC raises the possibility that a sterilizing cure of HIV-1 infection, previously only observed following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, may be feasible in rare instances.
Project description:The reservoir of latently HIV-1 infected cells is heterogeneous. To achieve an HIV-1 cure the reservoir of activatable proviruses should be removed, whereas permanently silenced proviruses may be tolerated. We have developed a method to assess the proviral nuclear microenvironment in single cells. Latently HIV-1 infected cells were transduced with a zinc finger protein specifically binding to the HIV-1 promoter, producing a fluorescent signal as the viral transactivator Tat is recruited to the HIV-1 promoter. In these cells we assessed the proviral chromatin composition simultaneously with the proviral activation. By linking the Tat promoter recruitment to viral activation, we dissected the mechanisms of HIV-1 reactivation and the consequences of HIV-1 production. A pulse of promoter-associated Tat was identified that contrasts to the continuous production of viral proteins. As expected, promoter H3K4me3 led to massive expression of the provirus following T cell stimulation. However, the activation induced cell cycle arrest and death resulted in an expanded surviving cell fraction with proviruses encapsulated in repressive chromatin. Further, this model can be used to reveal mechanisms of action of small molecules. In a proof-of-concept study we determine the effect of CBP/P300-inhibitor GNE049. We found that only active enhancers, associated with H3K4me1 and H3K27ac, efficiently recruit Tat, as GNE049 that specifically inhibits enhancer H3K27ac also depletes promoter Tat. Despite the absence of Tat, HIV-1 latency reversal still occurred. Single cell assessment of the chromatin composition of the latent HIV-1 proviruses revealed how T cell stimulation modulates the proviral activity and the subsequent fate of the infected cell.