Compensatory role of human immunodeficiency virus central polypurine tract sequence in kinetically disrupted reverse transcription

Delivering genes with human immunodeficiency virus-derived vehicles: still state-of-the-art after 25 years

Viruses are naturally endowed with the capacity to transfer genetic material between cells. Following early skepticism, engineered viruses have been used to transfer genetic information into thousands of patients, and genetic therapies are currently attracting large investments. Despite challenges and severe adverse effects along the way, optimized technologies and improved manufacturing processes are driving gene therapy toward clinical translation. Fueled by the outbreak of AIDS in the 1980s and the accompanying focus on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), lentiviral vectors derived from HIV have grown to become one of the most successful and widely used vector technologies. In 2022, this vector technology has been around for more than 25 years. Here, we celebrate the anniversary by portraying the vector system and its intriguing properties. We dive into the technology itself and recapitulate the use of lentiviral vectors for ex vivo gene transfer to hematopoietic stem cells and for production of CAR T-cells. Furthermore, we describe the adaptation of lentiviral vectors for in vivo gene delivery and cover the important contribution of lentiviral vectors to basic molecular research including their role as carriers of CRISPR genome editing technologies. Last, we dwell on the emerging capacity of lentiviral particles to package and transfer foreign proteins.

Mechanistic Interplay between HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase Enzyme Kinetics and Host SAMHD1 Protein: Viral Myeloid-Cell Tropism and Genomic Mutagenesis

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) has been the primary interest among studies on antiviral discovery, viral replication kinetics, drug resistance, and viral evolution. Following infection and entry into target cells, the HIV-1 core disassembles, and the viral RT concomitantly converts the viral RNA into double-stranded proviral DNA, which is integrated into the host genome. The successful completion of the viral life cycle highly depends on the enzymatic DNA polymerase activity of RT. Furthermore, HIV-1 RT has long been known as an error-prone DNA polymerase due to its lack of proofreading exonuclease properties. Indeed, the low fidelity of HIV-1 RT has been considered as one of the key factors in the uniquely high rate of mutagenesis of HIV-1, which leads to efficient viral escape from immune and therapeutic antiviral selective pressures. Interestingly, a series of studies on the replication kinetics of HIV-1 in non-dividing myeloid cells and myeloid specific host restriction factor, SAM domain, and HD domain-containing protein, SAMHD1, suggest that the myeloid cell tropism and high rate of mutagenesis of HIV-1 are mechanistically connected. Here, we review not only HIV-1 RT as a key antiviral target, but also potential evolutionary and mechanistic crosstalk among the unique enzymatic features of HIV-1 RT, the replication kinetics of HIV-1, cell tropism, viral genetic mutation, and host SAMHD1 protein.

SAMHD1 Functions and Human Diseases

Deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) molecules are essential for the replication and maintenance of genomic information in both cells and a variety of viral pathogens. While the process of dNTP biosynthesis by cellular enzymes, such as ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) and thymidine kinase (TK), has been extensively investigated, a negative regulatory mechanism of dNTP pools was recently found to involve sterile alpha motif (SAM) domain and histidine-aspartate (HD) domain-containing protein 1, SAMHD1. When active, dNTP triphosphohydrolase activity of SAMHD1 degrades dNTPs into their 2'-deoxynucleoside (dN) and triphosphate subparts, steadily depleting intercellular dNTP pools. The differential expression levels and activation states of SAMHD1 in various cell types contributes to unique dNTP pools that either aid (i.e., dividing T cells) or restrict (i.e., nondividing macrophages) viral replication that consumes cellular dNTPs. Genetic mutations in SAMHD1 induce a rare inflammatory encephalopathy called Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS), which phenotypically resembles viral infection. Recent publications have identified diverse roles for SAMHD1 in double-stranded break repair, genome stability, and the replication stress response through interferon signaling. Finally, a series of SAMHD1 mutations were also reported in various cancer cell types while why SAMHD1 is mutated in these cancer cells remains to investigated. Here, we reviewed a series of studies that have begun illuminating the highly diverse roles of SAMHD1 in virology, immunology, and cancer biology.

Lentiviral vectors can be used for full-length dystrophin gene therapy

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is caused by a lack of dystrophin expression in patient muscle fibres. Current DMD gene therapy strategies rely on the expression of internally deleted forms of dystrophin, missing important functional domains. Viral gene transfer of full-length dystrophin could restore wild-type functionality, although this approach is restricted by the limited capacity of recombinant viral vectors. Lentiviral vectors can package larger transgenes than adeno-associated viruses, yet lentiviral vectors remain largely unexplored for full-length dystrophin delivery. In our work, we have demonstrated that lentiviral vectors can package and deliver inserts of a similar size to dystrophin. We report a novel approach for delivering large transgenes in lentiviruses, in which we demonstrate proof-of-concept for a ‘template-switching’ lentiviral vector that harnesses recombination events during reverse-transcription. During this work, we discovered that a standard, unmodified lentiviral vector was efficient in delivering full-length dystrophin to target cells, within a total genomic load of more than 15,000 base pairs. We have demonstrated gene therapy with this vector by restoring dystrophin expression in DMD myoblasts, where dystrophin was expressed at the sarcolemma of myotubes after myogenic differentiation. Ultimately, our work demonstrates proof-of-concept that lentiviruses can be used for permanent full-length dystrophin gene therapy, which presents a significant advancement in developing an effective treatment for DMD.

Lentiviral vectors can be used for full-length dystrophin gene therapy

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is caused by a lack of dystrophin expression in patient muscle fibres. Current DMD gene therapy strategies rely on the expression of internally deleted forms of dystrophin, missing important functional domains. Viral gene transfer of full-length dystrophin could restore wild-type functionality, although this approach is restricted by the limited capacity of recombinant viral vectors. Lentiviral vectors can package larger transgenes than adeno-associated viruses, yet lentiviral vectors remain largely unexplored for full-length dystrophin delivery. In our work, we have demonstrated that lentiviral vectors can package and deliver inserts of a similar size to dystrophin. We report a novel approach for delivering large transgenes in lentiviruses, in which we demonstrate proof-of-concept for a 'template-switching' lentiviral vector that harnesses recombination events during reverse-transcription. During this work, we discovered that a standard, unmodified lentiviral vector was efficient in delivering full-length dystrophin to target cells, within a total genomic load of more than 15,000 base pairs. We have demonstrated gene therapy with this vector by restoring dystrophin expression in DMD myoblasts, where dystrophin was expressed at the sarcolemma of myotubes after myogenic differentiation. Ultimately, our work demonstrates proof-of-concept that lentiviruses can be used for permanent full-length dystrophin gene therapy, which presents a significant advancement in developing an effective treatment for DMD.

Viral and cellular requirements for the nuclear entry of retroviral preintegration nucleoprotein complexes

Retroviruses integrate their reverse transcribed genomes into host cell chromosomes as an obligate step in virus replication. The nuclear envelope separates the chromosomes from the cell cytoplasm during interphase, and different retroviral groups deal with this physical barrier in different ways. Gammaretroviruses are dependent on the passage of target cells through mitosis, where they are believed to access chromosomes when the nuclear envelope dissolves for cell division. Contrastingly, lentiviruses such as HIV-1 infect non-dividing cells, and are believed to enter the nucleus by passing through the nuclear pore complex. While numerous virally encoded elements have been proposed to be involved in HIV-1 nuclear import, recent evidence has highlighted the importance of HIV-1 capsid. Furthermore, capsid was found to be responsible for the viral requirement of various nuclear transport proteins, including transportin 3 and nucleoporins NUP153 and NUP358, during infection. In this review, we describe our current understanding of retroviral nuclear import, with emphasis on recent developments on the role of the HIV-1 capsid protein.

Restricted 5'-end gap repair of HIV-1 integration due to limited cellular dNTP concentrations in human primary macrophages

HIV-1 proviral DNA integration into host chromosomal DNA is only partially completed by the viral integrase, leaving two single-stranded DNA gaps with 5'-end mismatched viral DNA flaps. It has been inferred that these gaps are repaired by the cellular DNA repair machinery. Here, we investigated the efficiency of gap repair at integration sites in different HIV-1 target cell types. First, we found that the general gap repair machinery in macrophages was attenuated compared with that in dividing CD4(+) T cells. In fact, the repair in macrophages was heavily reliant upon host DNA polymerase β (Pol β). Second, we tested whether the poor dNTP availability found in macrophages is responsible for the delayed HIV-1 proviral DNA integration in this cell type because the Km value of Pol β is much higher than the dNTP concentrations found in macrophages. Indeed, with the use of a modified quantitative AluI PCR assay, we demonstrated that the elevation of cellular dNTP concentrations accelerated DNA gap repair in macrophages at HIV-1 proviral DNA integration sites. Finally, we found that human monocytes, which are resistant to HIV-1 infection, exhibited severely restricted gap repair capacity due not only to the very low levels of dNTPs detected but also to the significantly reduced expression of Pol β. Taken together, these results suggest that the low dNTP concentrations found in macrophages and monocytes can restrict the repair steps necessary for HIV-1 integration.

Assessment of Integration-defective HIV-1 and EIAV Vectors In Vitro and In Vivo

The interest in integrase-defective lentiviral vectors (IDLVs) stems from their potential advantage of large cloning capacity and broad cell tropism while avoiding the possibility of insertional mutagenesis. Here, we directly compared the transducing potential of IDLVs based on the equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) to the more commonly described HIV-1 IDLVs. IDLVs were constructed by introducing equivalent single/triple mutations into the integrase catalytic triad. We show that both the single and the triple mutant HIV-1 IDLVs transduce the PC12 cells, but not the C2C12 cells, with similar efficiency to their parental HIV-1 vector. In contrast, the single and triple EIAV IDLVs did not efficiently transduce either differentiated cell line. Moreover, this HIV-1 IDLV-mediated expression was independent of any residual integration activity because reporter expression was lost when cell cycling was restored. Four weeks following stereotactic administration into adult rat brains, only the single HIV-1 IDLV mutant displayed a comparable transduction profile to the parental HIV-1 vector. In contrast, neither EIAV IDLV mutants showed significant reporter gene expression. This work indicates that the transducing potential of IDLVs appears to depend not only on the choice of integrase mutation and type of target cell, but also on the nature of the lentiviral vector.

Viral reverse transcriptases show selective high affinity binding to DNA-DNA primer-templates that resemble the polypurine tract

Previous results using a SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment)-based approach that selected DNA primer-template duplexes binding with high affinity to HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) showed that primers mimicking the 3' end, and in particular the six nt terminal G tract, of the RNA polypurine tract (PPT; HIV PPT: 5'-AAAAGAAAAGGGGGG-3') were preferentially selected. In this report, two viral (Moloney murine leukemia virus (MuLV) and avian myeloblastosis virus (AMV)) and one retrotransposon (Ty3) RTs were used for selection. Like HIV RT, both viral RTs selected duplexes with primer strands mimicking the G tract at the PPT 3' end (AMV PPT: 5'-AGGGAGGGGGA-3'; MuLV PPT: 5'-AGAAAAAGGGGGG-3'). In contrast, Ty3, whose PPT lacks a G tract (5'-GAGAGAGAGGAA-3') showed no selective binding to any duplex sequences. Experiments were also conducted with DNA duplexes (termed DNA PPTs) mimicking the RNA PPT-DNA duplex of each virus and a control duplex with a random DNA sequence. Retroviral RTs bound with high affinity to all viral DNA PPT constructs, with HIV and MuLV RTs showing comparable binding to the counterpart DNA PPT duplexes and reduced affinity to the AMV DNA PPT. AMV RT showed similar behavior with a modest preference for its own DNA PPT. Ty3 RT showed no preferential binding for its own or any other DNA PPT and viral RTs bound the Ty3 DNA PPT with relatively low affinity. In contrast, binding affinity of HIV RT to duplexes containing the HIV RNA PPT was less dependent on the G tract, which is known to be pivotal for efficient extension. We hypothesize that the G tract on the RNA PPT helps shift the binding orientation of RT to the 3' end of the PPT where extension can occur.

Leishmania induces survival, proliferation and elevated cellular dNTP levels in human monocytes promoting acceleration of HIV co-infection

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that is widely prevalent in many tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Infection with Leishmania has been recognized to induce a striking acceleration of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) infection in coinfected individuals through as yet incompletely understood mechanisms. Cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage are the predominant cell types coinfected by both pathogens. Monocytes and macrophages contain extremely low levels of deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs) due to their lack of cell cycling and S phase, where dNTP biosynthesis is specifically activated. Lentiviruses, such as HIV-1, are unique among retroviruses in their ability to replicate in these non-dividing cells due, at least in part, to their highly efficient reverse transcriptase (RT). Nonetheless, viral replication progresses more efficiently in the setting of higher intracellular dNTP concentrations related to enhanced enzyme kinetics of the viral RT. In the present study, in vitro infection of CD14+ peripheral blood-derived human monocytes with Leishmania major was found to induce differentiation, marked elevation of cellular p53R2 ribonucleotide reductase subunit and R2 subunit expression. The R2 subunit is restricted to the S phase of the cell cycle. Our dNTP assay demonstrated significant elevation of intracellular monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) dNTP concentrations in Leishmania-infected cell populations as compared to control cells. Infection of Leishmania-maturated MDMs with a pseudotyped GFP expressing HIV-1 resulted in increased numbers of GFP+ cells in the Leishmania-maturated MDMs as compared to control cells. Interestingly, a sub-population of Leishmania-maturated MDMs was found to have re-entered the cell cycle, as demonstrated by BrdU labeling. In conclusion, Leishmania infection of primary human monocytes promotes the induction of an S phase environment and elevated dNTP levels with notable elevation of HIV-1 expression in the setting of coinfection.

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that infects several human host immune cells, including neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages. Moreover, while HIV-1 infects monocytes and macrophages, only the infected macrophages productively release viral progenies. Importantly, patients coinfected with both pathogens progress more rapidly to AIDS. In this study, we examine how Leishmania major changes the cellular environment of monocytes in vitro. We found that Leishmania-infected monocytes actively mature into macrophages in the absence of GM-CSF, and that these cells up-regulate the expression of ribonucleotide reductase, an enzyme that catalyzes the formation of deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs). We confirmed the elevation of dNTP concentrations using a very sensitive dNTP assay for monocytes and monocyte-maturated macrophages. Collectively, these data support a model in which infection of monocytes with Leishmania elevates the intracellular dNTP pools, which is one of the natural anti-viral blocks to HIV-1 infection in monocytes and macrophages in patients.

SAMHD1 restricts the replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 by depleting the intracellular pool of deoxynucleoside triphosphates

SAMHD1 restricts the infection of dendritic and other myeloid cells by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), but in lentiviruses of the simian immunodeficiency virus of sooty mangabey (SIVsm)-HIV-2 lineage, SAMHD1 is counteracted by the virion-packaged accessory protein Vpx. Here we found that SAMHD1 restricted infection by hydrolyzing intracellular deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs), lowering their concentrations to below those required for the synthesis of the viral DNA by reverse transcriptase (RT). SAMHD1-mediated restriction was alleviated by the addition of exogenous deoxynucleosides. An HIV-1 with a mutant RT with low affinity for dNTPs was particularly sensitive to SAMHD1-mediated restriction. Vpx prevented the SAMHD1-mediated decrease in dNTP concentration and induced the degradation of human and rhesus macaque SAMHD1 but had no effect on mouse SAMHD1. Nucleotide-pool depletion could be a general mechanism for protecting cells from infectious agents that replicate through a DNA intermediate.

The impact of molecular manipulation in residue 114 of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 reverse transcriptase on dNTP substrate binding and viral replication

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) has a unique tight binding to dNTP substrates. Structural modeling of Ala-114 of HIV-1 RT suggests that longer side chains at this residue can reduce the space normally occupied by the sugar moiety of an incoming dNTP. Indeed, mutations at Ala-114 decrease the ability of RT to synthesize DNA at low dNTP concentrations and reduce the dNTP-binding affinity (K(d)) of RT. However, the K(d) values of WT and A114C RT remained equivalent with an acyclic dNTP substrate. Finally, mutant A114 RT HIV-1 vectors displayed a greatly reduced transduction in nondividing human lung fibroblasts (HLFs), while WT HIV-1 vector efficiently transduced both dividing and nondividing HLFs. Together these data support that the A114 residue of HIV-1 RT plays a key mechanistic role in the dNTP binding of HIV-1 RT and the unique viral infectivity of target cell types with low dNTP pools.

Abundant non-canonical dUTP found in primary human macrophages drives its frequent incorporation by HIV-1 reverse transcriptase

Terminally differentiated/non-dividing macrophages contain extremely low cellular dNTP concentrations (20-40 nm), compared with activated CD4(+) T cells (2-5 μm). However, our LC-MS/MS study revealed that the non-canonical dUTP concentration (2.9 μm) is ∼60 times higher than TTP in macrophages, whereas the concentrations of dUTP and TTP in dividing human primary lymphocytes are very similar. Specifically, we evaluated the contribution of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase to proviral DNA uracilation under the physiological conditions found in HIV-1 target cells. Indeed, biochemical simulation of HIV-1 reverse transcription demonstrates that HIV-1 RT efficiently incorporates dUTP in the macrophage nucleotide pools but not in the T cell nucleotide pools. Measurement of both pre-steady state and steady state kinetic parameters of dUTP incorporation reveals minimal selectivity of HIV-1 RT for TTP over dUTP, implying that the cellular dUTP/TTP ratio determines the frequency of HIV-1 RT-mediated dUTP incorporation. The RT of another lentivirus, simian immunodeficiency virus, also displays efficient dUTP incorporation in the dNTP/dUTP pools found in macrophages but not in T cells. Finally, 2',3'-dideoxyuridine was inhibitory to HIV-1 proviral DNA synthesis in macrophages but not in T cells. The data presented demonstrates that the non-canonical dUTP was abundant relative to TTP, and efficiently incorporated during HIV-1 reverse transcription, particularly in non-dividing macrophages.

The inside out of lentiviral vectors

Lentiviruses induce a wide variety of pathologies in different animal species. A common feature of the replicative cycle of these viruses is their ability to target non-dividing cells, a property that constitutes an extremely attractive asset in gene therapy. In this review, we shall describe the main basic aspects of the virology of lentiviruses that were exploited to obtain efficient gene transfer vectors. In addition, we shall discuss some of the hurdles that oppose the efficient genetic modification mediated by lentiviral vectors and the strategies that are being developed to circumvent them.

Ribonucleoside triphosphates as substrate of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase in human macrophages

We biochemically simulated HIV-1 DNA polymerization in physiological nucleotide pools found in two HIV-1 target cell types: terminally differentiated/non-dividing macrophages and activated/dividing CD4(+) T cells. Quantitative tandem mass spectrometry shows that macrophages harbor 22-320-fold lower dNTP concentrations and a greater disparity between ribonucleoside triphosphate (rNTP) and dNTP concentrations than dividing target cells. A biochemical simulation of HIV-1 reverse transcription revealed that rNTPs are efficiently incorporated into DNA in the macrophage but not in the T cell environment. This implies that HIV-1 incorporates rNTPs during viral replication in macrophages and also predicts that rNTP chain terminators lacking a 3'-OH should inhibit HIV-1 reverse transcription in macrophages. Indeed, 3'-deoxyadenosine inhibits HIV-1 proviral DNA synthesis in human macrophages more efficiently than in CD4(+) T cells. This study reveals that the biochemical landscape of HIV-1 replication in macrophages is unique and that ribonucleoside chain terminators may be a new class of anti-HIV-1 agents specifically targeting viral macrophage infection.

Mechanistic interplay among the M184I HIV-1 reverse transcriptase mutant, the central polypurine tract, cellular dNTP concentrations and drug sensitivity

We recently reported that the M184I 3TC resistant mutation reduces RT binding affinity to dNTP substrates. First, the HIV-1 M184I mutant vector displays reduced transduction efficiency compared to wild type (WT) RT vector, which could be rescued by both elevating the cellular dNTP concentration and incorporating WT RT molecules into the M184I vector particles. Second, the central polypurine tract (cPPT) mutation and M184I mutation additively reduced the vector transduction to almost undetectable levels, particularly in nondividing cells. Third, the M184I (-) cPPT vector became significantly more sensitive to 3TC than the M184I (+) cPPT vector, but not to AZT or Nevirapine in the dividing cells. Finally, this 3TC sensitizing effect of the cPPT inactivation of the M184I vector was reversed by elevating the dCTP level, but not by the other three dNTPs. These data support a mechanistic interaction between cPPT and M184I RT with respect to viral replication and sensitivity to 3TC.

Generation of an improved foamy virus vector by dissection of cis-acting sequences

In contrast to other retroviruses, foamy viruses (FVs) generate their Pol protein precursor independently of the Gag protein from a spliced mRNA. The exact mechanism of Pol protein incorporation into the viral capsid is poorly understood. Previously, we showed that Pol encapsidation critically depends on the packaging of (pre-) genomic RNA and identified two distinct signals within the cis-acting sequences (CASI and CASII), Pol encapsidation sequences (PESI and PESII), which are required for Pol capsid incorporation. Here, we investigated whether the presence of PESI and PESII in an FV vector is sufficient for Pol encapsidation and whether the rather extended CASII element can be shortened without loss of functionality. Our results indicate that (i) the presence of PESI and II are not sufficient for Pol encapsidation, (ii) prototype FV vectors with a shortened CASII element retain Pol incorporation and full functionality, in particular upon transducing fibroblasts and primary human mesenchymal stem cells, (iii) the presence of the central poly purine tract significantly increased the transduction rates of FV vectors and (iv) Pol encapsidation and RNA packaging can be clearly separated. In essence, we designed a new FV vector that bears approximately 850 bp less of CAS than previously established vectors and is fully functional when analysed to transduce cell lines and primary human cells.