HIV-2 viral protein X (Vpx) ubiquitination is dispensable for ubiquitin ligase interaction and effects on macrophage infection

Purified recombinant lentiviral Vpx proteins maintain their SAMHD1 degradation efficiency in resting CD4+ T cells

Different protein purification methods exist. Yet, they need to be adapted for specific downstream applications to maintain functional integrity of the recombinant proteins. This study established a purification protocol for lentiviral Vpx (viral protein X) and test its ability to degrade sterile alpha motif and histidine-aspartate domain-containing protein 1 (SAMHD1) ex vivo in resting CD4⁺ T cells. For this purpose, we cloned a novel eukaryotic expression plasmid for Vpx including C-terminal 10x His- and HA-tags and confirmed that those tags did not alter the ability to degrade SAMHD1. We optimized purification conditions for Vpx produced in HEK293T cells with CHAPS as detergent and Co-NTA resins yielding the highest solubility and protein amounts. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) further enhanced the purity of recombinant Vpx proteins. Importantly, nucleofection of resting CD4⁺ T cells demonstrated that purified recombinant Vpx protein efficiently degraded SAMHD1 in a proteasome-dependent manner. In conclusion, this protocol is suitable for functional downstream applications of recombinant Vpx and might be transferrable to other recombinant proteins with similar functions/properties as lentiviral Vpx.

Incomplete Suppression of HIV-1 by SAMHD1 Permits Efficient Macrophage Infection

Background:

Sterile alpha motif and histidine/aspartic acid domain-containing protein (SAMHD1) is a dNTP triphosphorylase that reduces cellular dNTP levels in non-dividing cells, such as macrophages. Since dNTPs are required for reverse transcription, HIV-2 and most SIVs encode a Vpx protein that promotes proteasomal degradation of SAMHD1. It is unclear how HIV-1, which does not appear to harbor a SAMHD1 escape mechanism, is able to infect macrophages in the face of SAMHD1 restriction.

Methods:

To assess whether HIV-1 had a mechanism to negate SAMHD1 activity, we compared SAMHD1 and dNTP levels in macrophages infected by HIV-1 and SIV. We examined whether macrophages infected by HIV-1 still harbored antiviral levels of SAMHD1 by assessing their susceptibility to superinfection by vpx-deleted SIV. Finally, to assess whether HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) has adapted to a low dNTP environment, we evaluated SAMHD1 sensitivity of chimeric HIV-1 and SIV variants in which the RT regions were functionally exchanged.

Results:

Here, we demonstrate that HIV-1 efficiently infects macrophages without modulating SAMHD1 activity or cellular dNTP levels, and that macrophages permissive to HIV-1 infection remained refractory to superinfection by vpx-deleted SIV. Furthermore, through the use of chimeric HIV/SIV, we demonstrate that the differential sensitivity of HIV-1 and SIV to SAMHD1 restriction is not dictated by RT.

Conclusions:

Our study reveals fundamental differences between HIV-1 and SIV in the strategy used to evade restriction by SAMHD1 and suggests a degree of resistance of HIV-1 to the antiviral environment created by SAMHD1. Understanding how these cellular restrictions antagonize viral replication will be important for the design of novel antiviral strategies.

Inhibitory Effects of HIV-2 Vpx on Replication of HIV-1

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV-2 share a striking genomic resemblance; however, variability in the genetic sequence accounts for the presence of unique accessory genes, such as the viral protein X (vpx) gene in HIV-2. Dual infection with both viruses has long been described in the literature, yet the molecular mechanism of how dually infected patients tend to do better than those who are monoinfected with HIV-1 has not yet been explored. We hypothesized that in addition to extracellular mechanisms, an HIV-2 accessory gene is the culprit, and interference at the viral accessory/regulatory protein level is perhaps responsible for the attenuated pathogenicity of HIV-1 observed in dually infected patients. Following simulation of dual infection in cell culture experiments, we found that pretransduction of cells with HIV-2 significantly protects against HIV-1 transduction. Importantly, we have found that this dampening of the infectivity of HIV-1 was a result of interviral interference carried out by viral protein X of HIV-2, resulting in a severe hindrance to the replication dynamics of HIV-1, influencing both its early and late phases of the viral life cycle. Our findings shed light on potential intracellular interactions between the two viruses and broaden our understanding of the observed clinical spectrum in dually infected patients, highlighting HIV-2 Vpx as a potential candidate worth exploring in the fight against HIV-1.IMPORTANCE Dual infection with human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 is relatively common in areas of endemicity. For as-yet-unclarified reasons, patients who are dually infected were shown to have lower viral loads and generally a lower rate of progression to AIDS than those who are monoinfected. We aimed to explore dual infection in cell culture, to elucidate possible mechanisms by which HIV-2 may be able to exert such an effect. Our results indicate that on the cellular level, pretransduction of cells with HIV-2 significantly protects against HIV-1 transduction, which was found to be a result of interviral interference carried out by viral protein X of HIV-2. These findings broaden our knowledge of interviral interactions on the cellular level and may provide an explanation for the decreased pathogenicity of HIV-1 in dually infected patients, highlighting HIV-2 Vpx as a potential candidate worth exploring in the fight against HIV.