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Lima ÉRG, Queiroz MAF, Lima SS, Machado LFA, Cayres-Vallinoto IMV, Vallinoto ACR, Figueiredo FADPL, Guerreiro JF, Guimarães Ishak MDO, Ishak R. CCR5∆32 and SDF1 3'A: Gene Variants, Expression and Influence on Biological Markers for the Clinical Progression to AIDS among HIV-1 Virus Controllers in a Mixed Population of the Amazon Region of Brazil. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24054958. [PMID: 36902388 PMCID: PMC10003039 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24054958] [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: 12/30/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
CCR5Δ32 and SDF1-3'A polymorphisms were investigated in a cohort of viremia controllers, without the use of therapy, along with their influence on CD4+ T lymphocytes (TLs), CD8+ TLs, and plasma viral load (VL). The samples were analyzed from 32 HIV-1-infected individuals classified as viremia controllers 1 and 2 and viremia non-controllers, from both sexes, mostly heterosexuals, paired with 300 individuals from a control group. CCR5∆32 polymorphism was identified by PCR amplification of a fragment of 189 bp for the wild-type allele and 157 bp for the allele with the ∆32 deletion. SDF1-3'A polymorphism was identified by PCR, followed by enzymatic digestion (restriction fragment length polymorphism) with the Msp I enzyme. The relative quantification of gene expression was performed by real-time PCR. The distribution of allele and genotype frequencies did not show significant differences between the groups. The gene expression of CCR5 and SDF1 was not different between the profiles of AIDS progression. There was no significant correlation between the progression markers (CD4+ TL/CD8+ TL and VL) and the CCR5∆32 polymorphism carrier status. The 3'A allele variant was associated with a marked loss of CD4+ TLs and a higher plasma VL. Neither CCR5∆32 nor SDF1-3'A was associated with viremia control or the controlling phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Érica Ribeiro Gomes Lima
- Virus Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
| | - Maria Alice Freitas Queiroz
- Virus Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +55-91-98864-4259
| | - Sandra Souza Lima
- Virus Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
| | | | | | | | | | - João Farias Guerreiro
- Human and Medical Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
| | | | - Ricardo Ishak
- Virus Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
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Navarrete-Muñoz MA, Ramos R, Holguín Á, Cabello A, Górgolas M, Benito JM, Rallón N. High frequency of CD8 escape mutations in elite controllers as new obstacle for HIV cure. Virulence 2022; 13:1713-1719. [PMID: 36190143 PMCID: PMC9543107 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2022.2129353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Accumulation of mutations in epitopes of cytolytic-T-lymphocytes immune response (CTL) in HIV-reservoir seems to be one of the reasons for shock-and-kill strategy failure. Ten non-controller patients on successful cART (TX) and seven elite controllers (EC) were included. HIV-Gag gene from purified resting memory CD4+ T-cells was sequenced by Next-Generation-Sequencing. HLA class-I alleles were typed to predict optimal HIV-Gag CTL epitopes. For each subject, the frequency of mutated epitopes in the HIV-Gag gene, the proportion of them considered as CTL-escape variants as well as their effect on antigen recognition by HLA were assessed. The proportion (%) of mutated HIV-Gag CTL epitopes in the reservoir was high and similar in EC and TX (86%[50-100] and 57%[48-82] respectively, p=0.315). Many of them were predicted to negatively impact antigen recognition. Moreover, the proportion of mutated epitopes considered to be CTL-escape variants was also similar in TX and EC (77%[49-92] vs. 50%[33-75] respectively, p=0.117). Thus, the most relevant finding of our study was the high and similar proportions of HIV-Gag CTL-escape mutations in the reservoir of both HIV-noncontroller patients with cART (TX) and patients with spontaneous HIV-control (EC). Our findings suggest that escape mutations of CTL-response may be another obstacle to eliminate the HIV reservoir and constitute a proof of concept that challenges HIV cure strategies focused on the reactivation of reservoirs. Due to the small sample size that could impact the robustness of the study, further studies with larger cohorts of elite controller patients are needed to confirm these results.
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Affiliation(s)
- María A Navarrete-Muñoz
- HIV and Viral Hepatitis Research Laboratory, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (IIS-FJD, UAM), Madrid, Spain.,Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Spain
| | - Ricardo Ramos
- Unidad de Genómica, Scientific Park of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - África Holguín
- HIV-1 Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory, Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria(IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
| | - Alfonso Cabello
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Miguel Górgolas
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain
| | - José M Benito
- HIV and Viral Hepatitis Research Laboratory, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (IIS-FJD, UAM), Madrid, Spain.,Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Spain
| | - Norma Rallón
- HIV and Viral Hepatitis Research Laboratory, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (IIS-FJD, UAM), Madrid, Spain.,Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Spain
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Roberto de Souza Fonseca R, Valois Laurentino R, Fernando Almeida Machado L, Eduardo Vieira da Silva Gomes C, Oliveira de Alencar Menezes T, Faciola Pessoa O, Branco Oliveira-Filho A, Resque Beckmann Carvalho T, Gabriela Faciola Pessoa de Oliveira P, Brito Tanaka E, Sá Elias Nogueira J, Magno Guimarães D, Newton Carneiro M, Mendes Acatauassú Carneiro P, Ferreira Celestino Junior A, de Almeida Rodrigues P, Augusto Fernandes de Menezes S. HIV Infection and Oral Manifestations: An Update. Infect Dis (Lond) 2022. [DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.105894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes a complete depletion of the immune system; it has been a major health issue around the world since the 1980s, and due to the reduction of CD4+ T lymphocytes levels, it can trigger various opportunistic infections. Oral lesions are usually accurate indicators of immunosuppression because these oral manifestations may occur as a result of the compromised immune system caused by HIV infection; therefore, oral lesions might be initial and common clinical features in people living with HIV. So, it is necessary to evaluate and understand the mechanism, prevalence, and risk factors of oral lesions to avoid the increase morbidity among those with oral diseases.
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Akbari E, Ajdary S, Ardakani EM, Agi E, Milani A, Seyedinkhorasani M, Khalaj V, Bolhassani A. Immunopotentiation by linking Hsp70 T-cell epitopes to Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev multiepitope construct and increased IFN-gamma secretion in infected lymphocytes. Pathog Dis 2022; 80:6608937. [PMID: 35704612 DOI: 10.1093/femspd/ftac021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Therapeutic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccines can boost the anti-HIV host immunity to control viral replication and eliminate viral reservoirs in the absence of anti-retroviral therapy. In this study, two computationally designed multiepitope Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev and Hsp70-Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev constructs harboring immunogenic and highly conserved HIV T cell epitopes were generated in E. coli as polypeptide vaccine candidates. Furthermore, the multiepitope gag-pol-env-nef-rev and hsp70-gag-pol-env-nef-rev DNA vaccine constructs were prepared and complexed with MPG cell-penetrating peptide. The immunogenicity of the multiepitope constructs were evaluated using the homologous and heterologous prime/boost strategies in mice. Moreover, the secretion of IFN-γ was assessed in infected lymphocytes in vitro. Our data showed that the homologous polypeptide regimens could significantly induce a mixture of IgG1 and IgG2a antibody responses, activate T cells to secret IFN-γ, IL-5, IL-10, and generate Granzyme B. Moreover, IFN-γ secretion was significantly enhanced in single-cycle replicable (SCR) HIV-1 virions-infected splenocytes in these groups compared to uninfected splenocytes. The linkage of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) epitopes to Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev polypeptide in the homologous regimen increased significantly cytokines and Granzyme B levels, and IFN-γ secretion in virions-infected splenocytes. Briefly, both designed constructs in the homologous regimens can be used as a promising vaccine candidate against HIV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elahe Akbari
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.,Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Soheila Ajdary
- Department of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Elnaz Agi
- Iranian Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center, Tehran, Iran
| | - Alireza Milani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Vahid Khalaj
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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Nikyar A, Bolhassani A, Rouhollah F, Heshmati M. In Vitro Delivery of HIV-1 Nef-Vpr DNA Construct Using the Human Antimicrobial Peptide LL-37. Curr Drug Deliv 2022; 19:1083-1092. [PMID: 35176981 DOI: 10.2174/1567201819666220217164055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES DNA-based therapeutic vaccines have been proposed as promising strategy for treatment of established HIV infections. However, these vaccines are often associated with certain shortcomings, such as poor immunogenicity and low transfection efficiency. In this study, we investigated ability of LL-37 to deliver a potential immunogenic fusion construct comprising HIV-1 nef and vpr genes into a mammalian cell line. METHODS First, the pEGFP-N1 eukaryotic expression vector harboring the HIV-1 nef-vpr fusion was produced free of endotoxin on large scale. Then, DNA/LL-37 complexes were prepared by co-incubation of pEGFP-nef-vpr with LL-37 for 45 minutes at different nitrogen to phosphate (N/P) ratios. Formation of DNA/peptide complexes was investigated by gel retardation assay. Next, stability and morphological characteristics of the nanoparticles were evaluated. Toxicity of LL-37 and the nanoparticles in HEK-293T cells was assessed by MTT assay. Transfection efficiency of the DNA/LL-37 complexes was studied by fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, and western blot analysis. RESULTS LL-37 formed stable complexes with pEGFP-nef-vpr (diameter of 150-200 nm) while providing good protection against nucleolytic and proteolytic degradation. The peptide significantly affected cell viability even at low concentrations. However, the LL-37/DNA complexes had no significant cytotoxic effect. Treatment of cells with pEGFP-N1/LL-37 and pEGFP-nef-vpr/LL-37 resulted in transfection of 36.32% ± 1.13 and 25.55% ± 2.07 of cells, respectively. CONCLUSION Given these findings and the important immunomodulatory and antiviral activities of LL-37, the use of this peptide can be further exploited in the development of novel gene delivery strategies and vaccine design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arash Nikyar
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDs, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Rouhollah
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Masoumeh Heshmati
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
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Machado LFA, Fonseca RRDS, Queiroz MAF, Oliveira-Filho AB, Cayres-Vallinoto IMV, Vallinoto ACR, Ishak MDOG, Ishak R. The Epidemiological Impact of STIs among General and Vulnerable Populations of the Amazon Region of Brazil: 30 years of Surveillance. Viruses 2021; 13:v13050855. [PMID: 34067165 PMCID: PMC8151421 DOI: 10.3390/v13050855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) represent a worldwide public health problem and, although many of them are curable, they continue to be neglected, especially in areas with a low human development index, such as in the northern region of Brazil. This review describes the results of 30 years of studies at the Virus Laboratory at the Federal University of Pará, including the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of HIV-1, HTLV-1/2, HPV, HBV, Treponema pallidum and Chlamydia trachomatis among urban and non-urban populations, and also in vulnerable groups in the Brazilian Amazon. Control strategies and challenges in preventing STIs are discussed considering this immense geographic region, where essential health services are unable to reach the entire population, especially the most vulnerable, such as female sex workers, people who use illicit drugs, remnants of quilombolos and indigenous communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luiz Fernando Almeida Machado
- Laboratório de Virologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológica, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66.075-110, Brazil; (R.R.d.S.F.); (M.A.F.Q.); (I.M.V.C.-V.); (A.C.R.V.); (M.d.O.G.I.); (R.I.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Ricardo Roberto de Souza Fonseca
- Laboratório de Virologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológica, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66.075-110, Brazil; (R.R.d.S.F.); (M.A.F.Q.); (I.M.V.C.-V.); (A.C.R.V.); (M.d.O.G.I.); (R.I.)
| | - Maria Alice Freitas Queiroz
- Laboratório de Virologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológica, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66.075-110, Brazil; (R.R.d.S.F.); (M.A.F.Q.); (I.M.V.C.-V.); (A.C.R.V.); (M.d.O.G.I.); (R.I.)
| | - Aldemir Branco Oliveira-Filho
- Grupo de Estudo e Pesquisa em Populações Vulneráveis, Instituto de Estudos Costeiros, Universidade Federal do Pará, Bragança 68.600-000, Brazil;
| | - Izaura Maria Vieira Cayres-Vallinoto
- Laboratório de Virologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológica, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66.075-110, Brazil; (R.R.d.S.F.); (M.A.F.Q.); (I.M.V.C.-V.); (A.C.R.V.); (M.d.O.G.I.); (R.I.)
| | - Antonio Carlos Rosário Vallinoto
- Laboratório de Virologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológica, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66.075-110, Brazil; (R.R.d.S.F.); (M.A.F.Q.); (I.M.V.C.-V.); (A.C.R.V.); (M.d.O.G.I.); (R.I.)
| | - Marluísa de Oliveira Guimarães Ishak
- Laboratório de Virologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológica, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66.075-110, Brazil; (R.R.d.S.F.); (M.A.F.Q.); (I.M.V.C.-V.); (A.C.R.V.); (M.d.O.G.I.); (R.I.)
| | - Ricardo Ishak
- Laboratório de Virologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológica, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66.075-110, Brazil; (R.R.d.S.F.); (M.A.F.Q.); (I.M.V.C.-V.); (A.C.R.V.); (M.d.O.G.I.); (R.I.)
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