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Lv J, Qin M, Pang X, Chen L, Liao Y, Wang W, Liu Y, Li S, Wang Z, Wu W. Molecular mechanism of regulating tat protein expression of pingganjiedu TCM in the treatment of AIDS based on network pharmacology. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 278:134599. [PMID: 39127288 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.134599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2024] [Revised: 07/27/2024] [Accepted: 08/07/2024] [Indexed: 08/12/2024]
Abstract
AIDS is a serious disease with impaired immune function caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The treatment of AIDS has always been the focus of global scientific research, and Tat protein is a key regulatory protein in the process of HIV infection. Its high expression is closely related to virus replication, disease progression, etc. The aim of this study is to explore the molecular mechanism of regulating Tat protein expression by using network pharmacology based traditional Chinese medicine for calming the liver and detoxifying. 129 AIDS patients were enrolled in the study and randomly divided into HAART combined with PGJDP treatment and HAART alone treatment groups. The virological response rate, immunological response status (CD4 + T cell level, CD4/CD8) and incidence of abnormal liver function were observed before and 48 weeks after treatment. Using the TCMSP database to obtain the chemical components and targets of the main traditional Chinese medicine components in PGJDP, clinical results indicate that the combination of HAART and PGJDP treatment can improve the virological response rate (P > 0.05); Increase the number of CD4 + T lymphocytes (P > 0.05); Significantly increased CD4/CD8 ratio (P < 0.01); Simultaneously, it significantly reduced the incidence of liver dysfunction (P < 0.01). After screening and analysis, the Chinese herbal medicine for calming liver and detoxifying has the potential to significantly regulate the expression of Tat protein. These Chinese herbal compounds can reduce the expression of Tat protein by affecting key pathways and regulating the expression of related genes, which has potential therapeutic effects on the treatment of AIDS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiannan Lv
- National Immunological Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Department of Infection, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical College of Nationalities, Baise 533000, China.
| | - Mingzhen Qin
- National Engineering Research Center of Southwest Endangered Medicinal Resource Development, Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants, Nanning, Guangxi 530023, China
| | - Xianwu Pang
- Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
| | - Lu Chen
- National Engineering Research Center of Southwest Endangered Medicinal Resource Development, Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants, Nanning, Guangxi 530023, China
| | - Yingqin Liao
- National Immunological Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Department of Infection, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical College of Nationalities, Baise 533000, China
| | - Weifeng Wang
- Department of Gastroenterology, Beihai People's Hospital, Beihai 536000, China
| | - Yu Liu
- National Engineering Research Center of Southwest Endangered Medicinal Resource Development, Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants, Nanning, Guangxi 530023, China
| | - Song Li
- Key Laboratory of Rare Pediatric Diseases, Ministry of Education, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan 421001, China; National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Birth Defect Research and Prevention, Hunan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China.
| | - Zhe Wang
- Department of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medicine The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine 111 Dade Road, 510000, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Wuwei Wu
- National Engineering Research Center of Southwest Endangered Medicinal Resource Development, Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants, Nanning, Guangxi 530023, China.
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Vanegas-Torres CA, Schindler M. HIV-1 Vpr Functions in Primary CD4 + T Cells. Viruses 2024; 16:420. [PMID: 38543785 PMCID: PMC10975730 DOI: 10.3390/v16030420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
HIV-1 encodes four accesory proteins in addition to its structural and regulatory genes. Uniquely amongst them, Vpr is abundantly present within virions, meaning it is poised to exert various biological effects on the host cell upon delivery. In this way, Vpr contributes towards the establishment of a successful infection, as evidenced by the extent to which HIV-1 depends on this factor to achieve full pathogenicity in vivo. Although HIV infects various cell types in the host organism, CD4+ T cells are preferentially targeted since they are highly permissive towards productive infection, concomitantly bringing about the hallmark immune dysfunction that accompanies HIV-1 spread. The last several decades have seen unprecedented progress in unraveling the activities Vpr possesses in the host cell at the molecular scale, increasingly underscoring the importance of this viral component. Nevertheless, it remains controversial whether some of these advances bear in vivo relevance, since commonly employed cellular models significantly differ from primary T lymphocytes. One prominent example is the "established" ability of Vpr to induce G2 cell cycle arrest, with enigmatic physiological relevance in infected primary T lymphocytes. The objective of this review is to present these discoveries in their biological context to illustrate the mechanisms whereby Vpr supports HIV-1 infection in CD4+ T cells, whilst identifying findings that require validation in physiologically relevant models.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michael Schindler
- Institute for Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Diseases, University Hospital Tuebingen, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany;
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Singh M, Leddy SM, Iñiguez LP, Bendall ML, Nixon DF, Feschotte C. Transposable elements may enhance antiviral resistance in HIV-1 elite controllers. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.11.571123. [PMID: 38168352 PMCID: PMC10760019 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.11.571123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Less than 0.5% of people living with HIV-1 are elite controllers (ECs) - individuals who have a replication-competent viral reservoir in their CD4+ T cells but maintain undetectable plasma viremia without the help of antiretroviral therapy. While the EC CD4+ T cell transcriptome has been investigated for gene expression signatures associated with disease progression (or, in this case, a lack thereof), the expression and regulatory activity of transposable elements (TEs) in ECs has not been explored. Yet previous studies have established that TEs can directly impact the immune response to pathogens, including HIV-1. Thus, we hypothesize that the regulatory activities of TEs could contribute to the natural resistance of ECs against HIV-1. We perform a TE-centric analysis of previously published multi-omics data derived from EC individuals and other populations. We find that the CD4+ T cell transcriptome and retrotranscriptome of ECs are distinct from healthy controls, treated patients, and viremic progressors. However, there is a substantial level of transcriptomic heterogeneity among ECs. We categorize individuals with distinct chromatin accessibility and expression profiles into four clusters within the EC group, each possessing unique repertoires of TEs and antiviral factors. Notably, several TE families with known immuno-regulatory activity are differentially expressed among ECs. Their transcript levels in ECs positively correlate with their chromatin accessibility and negatively correlate with the expression of their KRAB zinc-finger (KZNF) repressors. This coordinated variation is seen at the level of individual TE loci likely acting or, in some cases, known to act as cis-regulatory elements for nearby genes involved in the immune response and HIV-1 restriction. Based on these results, we propose that the EC phenotype is driven in part by the reduced availability of specific KZNF proteins to repress TE-derived cis-regulatory elements for antiviral genes, thereby heightening their basal level of resistance to HIV-1 infection. Our study reveals considerable heterogeneity in the CD4+ T cell transcriptome of ECs, including variable expression of TEs and their KZNF controllers, that must be taken into consideration to decipher the mechanisms enabling HIV-1 control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manvendra Singh
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Clinical Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, City Campus, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Sabrina M Leddy
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Luis Pedro Iñiguez
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Matthew L Bendall
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Douglas F Nixon
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Cédric Feschotte
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
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Lan Y, Ling X, Deng X, Lin Y, Li J, Li L, He R, Cai W, Li F, Li L, Hu F. Drug Resistance Profile Among HIV-1 Infections Experiencing ART with Low-Level Viral Load in Guangdong China During 2011-2022: A Retrospective Study. Infect Drug Resist 2023; 16:4953-4964. [PMID: 37546367 PMCID: PMC10402888 DOI: 10.2147/idr.s419610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Antiretroviral therapy (ART) efficiently reduces the morbidities and mortalities caused by HIV-1 infection and prevents the HIV epidemic. However, virologic failure (VF) occurs in some patients receiving ART experience, especially increases in those patients with intermittent or persistent low-level viremia (LLV). The presence of drug resistance mutations (DRMs) in LLV was a strong predictor of subsequent VF. The data on drug resistance (DR) or DRMs for HIV-1 infections at low-level viral load (LLVL) are limited in China. Objective To monitor the prevalence of HIV-1 drug resistance and to evaluate the risk factors associated with drug resistance in LLVL HIV-1 infections during ART in Guangdong, China. Methods Plasma samples with LLVL during ART in Guangdong Province between Jan 2011 and Dec 2022 were subjected to a modified reverse-transcription PCR with a pre-step of virus concentration by ultracentrifugation before extraction and the Sanger sequencing. Then, the genotypic resistance test was performed and DR was analyzed by the Stanford HIVDB program. Finally, DR-associated factors were identified by logistic regression analysis. Results We found that CRF01_AE (53.57%) and CRF07_BC (25.07%) were the dominant HIV-1 genotypes in LLVL in Guangdong between 2011 and 2022 but that the percentage of CRF01_AE showed a trend of decrease over time. M46 (1.49%), M184 (30.91%), and K103 (21.46%) were the dominant PI-, NRTI-, and NNRTI-associated mutations, respectively. The total DR rate was 47.06%. Specifically, PI (3.71%) showed a significantly lower DR rate than NNRTI (40.74%) and NRTI (34.14%). Duration of ART, initial ART regimen, ethnicity, and WHO clinical stages were associated with DR. Conclusion The drug resistance rate among the LLVL during ART in Guangdong, China is high. The risk factors associated with HIV drug resistance should be seriously considered for better control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Lan
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xuemei Ling
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
- Guangdong Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of AIDS, Guangzhou, 510060, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xizi Deng
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yaqing Lin
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
| | - Junbin Li
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
- Guangdong Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of AIDS, Guangzhou, 510060, People’s Republic of China
| | - Liya Li
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
| | - Ruiying He
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
| | - Weiping Cai
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
| | - Feng Li
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
| | - Linghua Li
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
| | - Fengyu Hu
- Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510440, People’s Republic of China
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