Producer cell-dependent requirement of the Nef protein for efficient entry of HIV-1 into cells

The frantic play of the concealed HIV envelope cytoplasmic tail

Lentiviruses have unusually long envelope (Env) cytoplasmic tails, longer than those of other retroviruses. Whereas the Env ectodomain has received much attention, the gp41 cytoplasmic tail (gp41-CT) is one of the least studied parts of the virus. It displays relatively high conservation compared to the rest of Env. It has been long established that the gp41-CT interacts with the Gag precursor protein to ensure Env incorporation into the virion. The gp41-CT contains distinct motifs and domains that mediate both intensive Env intracellular trafficking and interactions with numerous cellular and viral proteins, optimizing viral infectivity. Although they are not fully understood, a multiplicity of interactions between the gp41-CT and cellular factors have been described over the last decade; these interactions illustrate how Env expression and incorporation into virions is a finely tuned process that has evolved to best exploit the host system with minimized genetic information. This review addresses the structure and topology of the gp41-CT of lentiviruses (mainly HIV and SIV), their domains and believed functions. It also considers the cellular and viral proteins that have been described to interact with the gp41-CT, with a particular focus on subtype-related polymorphisms.

CD4 and MHC class 1 down-modulation activities of nef alleles from brain- and lymphoid tissue-derived primary HIV-1 isolates

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nef undergoes adaptive evolution in the central nervous system (CNS), reflecting altered requirements for HIV-1 replication in macrophages/microglia and brain-specific immune selection pressures. The role of Nef in HIV-1 neurotropism and pathogenesis of HIV-associated dementia (HAD) is unclear. In this study, we characterized 82 nef alleles cloned from brain, cerebral spinal fluid, spinal cord, and blood/lymphoid tissue-derived HIV-1 isolates from seven subjects with HAD. CNS isolate-derived nef alleles were genetically compartmentalized and had reduced sequence diversity compared to those from lymphoid tissue isolates. Defective nef alleles predominated in a brain-derived isolate from one of the seven subjects (MACS2-br). The ability of Nef to down-modulate CD4 and MHC class 1 (MHC-1) was generally conserved among nef alleles from both CNS and lymphoid tissues. However, the potency of CD4 and MHC-1 down-modulation was variable, which was associated with sequence alterations known to influence these Nef functions. These results suggest that CD4 and MHC-1 down-modulations are highly conserved functions among nef alleles from CNS- and lymphoid tissue-derived HIV-1 isolates that may contribute to viral replication and escape from immune surveillance in the CNS.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Nef protein modulates the lipid composition of virions and host cell membrane microdomains

Background

The Nef protein of Human Immunodeficiency Viruses optimizes viral spread in the infected host by manipulating cellular transport and signal transduction machineries. Nef also boosts the infectivity of HIV particles by an unknown mechanism. Recent studies suggested a correlation between the association of Nef with lipid raft microdomains and its positive effects on virion infectivity. Furthermore, the lipidome analysis of HIV-1 particles revealed a marked enrichment of classical raft lipids and thus identified HIV-1 virions as an example for naturally occurring membrane microdomains. Since Nef modulates the protein composition and function of membrane microdomains we tested here if Nef also has the propensity to alter microdomain lipid composition.

Results

Quantitative mass spectrometric lipidome analysis of highly purified HIV-1 particles revealed that the presence of Nef during virus production from T lymphocytes enforced their raft character via a significant reduction of polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine species and a specific enrichment of sphingomyelin. In contrast, Nef did not significantly affect virion levels of phosphoglycerolipids or cholesterol. The observed alterations in virion lipid composition were insufficient to mediate Nef's effect on particle infectivity and Nef augmented virion infectivity independently of whether virus entry was targeted to or excluded from membrane microdomains. However, altered lipid compositions similar to those observed in virions were also detected in detergent-resistant membrane preparations of virus producing cells.

Conclusion

Nef alters not only the proteome but also the lipid composition of host cell microdomains. This novel activity represents a previously unrecognized mechanism by which Nef could manipulate HIV-1 target cells to facilitate virus propagation in vivo.

Superinfection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) to cell clone persistently infected with defective virus induces production of highly cytopathogenic HIV-1

Superinfection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in human subjects, defined as reinfection with a heterologous strain of HIV-1, has become a topic of great interest. To illustrate the significance of this occurrence, we performed HIV-1 superinfection of L-2 cells, which were isolated from MT-4 cells persistently infected with subtype B HIV-1 as a cell clone continuously producing defective HIV-1 particles. L-2 cells carrying provirus with a one-base insertion in the pol protease were superinfected with HIV-1 derived from primary isolates of subtype B or CRF01_AE. The kinetics of the superinfection in L-2 were very slow compared with those of primary infections in MT-4. Interestingly, L-2 shifted after superinfection to become a producer of highly cytopathogenic HIV-1. Molecular characterization revealed that superinfection occurred in only about 10% of the CRF01_AE-superinfected L-2, which carried provirus of both subtypes and produced viral particles containing genomic RNA of both subtypes. Surprisingly, such cytopathogenic HIV-1 showed predominantly the original subtype B phenotype. Thus, the mechanism of the production of cytopathic HIV-1 seemed to be mediated by trans complementation with pol products of superinfected CRF01_AE. These findings suggest the significance of long-lived infected cells as recipients for superinfection that could result in the generation of new HIV-1 variants with high virulence in patients who are off therapy or do not adhere to treatment, and may indicate the need for precautions against such superinfection.

Modulation of CD8 and CD3 by HIV or HIV antigens

To investigate whether human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 and HIV-1 antigens modulate surface and cytoplasmic CD8 or CD3, as well as CD4, we used cell permeabilization reagents, surface/cytoplasmic fluorescent staining, multiparameter flow cytometric techniques and an in vitro culture system in which relatively few lymphocytes are actively infected with HIV. Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were: not stimulated, not stimulated but HIV-inoculated, phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated, PHA/HIV-inoculated (PHA/HIV), or placed into media with soluble gp120, Rev or Nef. HIV inoculation and Nef had striking modulatory effects on CD8. The cytoplasmic CD8 median fluorescent intensity (MFI) of positive lymphocytes was lower for cells in unstimulated/HIV-infected cultures than unstimulated cultures (44 versus 62% of ex vivo value, P = 0.032) and lower for cells in PHA/HIV cultures than in PHA cultures (56 versus 100% of ex vivo, P = 0.041). The surface CD8 MFI values for Nef were significantly lower than the ex vivo value (75% of ex vivo, P = 0.006). At days 2-7 of culture, Rev was associated with slight reductions in surface CD4 MFI (58% of ex vivo versus 78% of ex vivo for unstimulated cultures, P = 0.047) and greater effects on cytoplasmic CD3 MFI (131 versus 179% of ex vivo for unstimulated cultures, P = 0.035), and surface CD8 MFI (70% of ex vivo, P = 0.006 versus ex vivo value). The globality of Rev's effects suggests these are related to a shared processing pathway, i.e. not due to direct interaction with CD3, CD4 and CD8; the effects of HIV inoculation and Nef on CD8 expression appear to be more CD8 specific. Because CD8 is essential for cytotoxic T-cell function, its down-modulation could inhibit this activity, including anti-HIV cytotoxicity. Given the critical roles of CD3 and CD8 in T-lymphocyte signal transduction and antigen responsiveness, the effects of HIV, Rev and Nef on these molecules have clinically significant implications concerning the pathogenesis and treatment of HIV.

Pseudotyping human immunodeficiency virus type 1 by vesicular stomatitis virus G protein does not reduce the cell-dependent requirement of vif for optimal infectivity: functional difference between Vif and Nef

The functions of Vif and Nef in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection have some similarities: Vif- and Nef-dependent enhancement of HIV-1 replication is cell type-specific, and defective mutations in these genes result in restricted proviral DNA synthesis in infected cells. It has recently been shown that pseudotyping HIV-1 by the envelope glycoprotein of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV-G) targets HIV-1 entry to an endocytic pathway and suppresses the requirement of Nef for virus infectivity. In this study, we examined whether VSV-G pseudotyping suppresses the requirement of Vif for HIV-1 infectivity. It was found that pseudotyping HIV-1 by VSV-G did not compensate for the Vif function. Together with the findings that Vif does not influence virus binding/entry and virion incorporation of Env, it is concluded that Vif enhances HIV-1 infectivity at the post-entry step(s) independently of the Env function by a different mechanism to that of Nef.

The cellular kinase binding motifs (PxxP and RR) in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Nef protein are dispensable for producer-cell-dependent enhancement of viral entry

We have recently demonstrated that human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Nef is required for enhancing viral infectivity by increasing the efficiency of viral entry in a producer-cell-dependent manner, suggesting the possible involvement of a cellular factor(s) in the enhancement of viral entry. Moreover, it has been reported that a proline-rich (PxxP) motif and an Arg-Arg (RR) motif in HIV-1 Nef bind to the SH3 domain of the Src-family tyrosine kinase Hck and to a serine/threonine kinase, respectively. To address whether these cellular kinase binding motifs, PxxP and RR, could be involved in virus producer-cell-dependent enhancement of viral entry, we constructed two nef mutant proviral clones in which these motifs were mutated. The results show that the HIV-1 Nef PxxP motif, which significantly influenced viral infectivity, and the RR motif, which modestly affected viral infectivity, were both dispensable for enhanced viral entry, thus suggesting that another interaction of Nef with a cellular factor(s) is involved in the efficiency of viral entry.