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Pérez-Yanes S, Pernas M, Marfil S, Cabrera-Rodríguez R, Ortiz R, Urrea V, Rovirosa C, Estévez-Herrera J, Olivares I, Casado C, Lopez-Galindez C, Blanco J, Valenzuela-Fernández A. The Characteristics of the HIV-1 Env Glycoprotein Are Linked With Viral Pathogenesis. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:763039. [PMID: 35401460 PMCID: PMC8988142 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.763039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The understanding of HIV-1 pathogenesis and clinical progression is incomplete due to the variable contribution of host, immune, and viral factors. The involvement of viral factors has been investigated in extreme clinical phenotypes from rapid progressors to long-term non-progressors (LTNPs). Among HIV-1 proteins, the envelope glycoprotein complex (Env) has been concentrated on in many studies for its important role in the immune response and in the first steps of viral replication. In this study, we analyzed the contribution of 41 Envs from 24 patients with different clinical progression rates and viral loads (VLs), LTNP-Elite Controllers (LTNP-ECs); Viremic LTNPs (vLTNPs), and non-controller individuals contemporary to LTNPs or recent, named Old and Modern progressors. We studied the Env expression, the fusion and cell-to-cell transfer capacities, as well as viral infectivity. The sequence and phylogenetic analysis of Envs were also performed. In every functional characteristic, the Envs from subjects with viral control (LTNP-ECs and vLTNPs) showed significant lower performance compared to those from the progressor individuals (Old and Modern). Regarding sequence analysis, the variable loops of the gp120 subunit of the Env (i.e., V2, V4, and mainly V5) of the progressor individuals showed longer and more glycosylated sequences than controller subjects. Therefore, HIV-1 Envs from virus of patients presenting viremic control and the non-progressor clinical phenotype showed poor viral functions and shorter sequences, whereas functional Envs were associated with virus of patients lacking virological control and with progressor clinical phenotypes. These correlations support the role of Env genotypic and phenotypic characteristics in the in vivo HIV-1 infection and pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Pérez-Yanes
- Unidad de Farmacología, Sección de Medicina, Laboratorio de Inmunología Celular y Viral, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - María Pernas
- Unidad de Virologia Molecular, Laboratorio de Referencia e Investigación en Retrovirus, Centro Nacional de Microbiologia, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Silvia Marfil
- Institut de Recerca de la Sida IrsiCaixa, Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Romina Cabrera-Rodríguez
- Unidad de Farmacología, Sección de Medicina, Laboratorio de Inmunología Celular y Viral, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - Raquel Ortiz
- Institut de Recerca de la Sida IrsiCaixa, Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Víctor Urrea
- Institut de Recerca de la Sida IrsiCaixa, Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carla Rovirosa
- Institut de Recerca de la Sida IrsiCaixa, Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Judith Estévez-Herrera
- Unidad de Farmacología, Sección de Medicina, Laboratorio de Inmunología Celular y Viral, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - Isabel Olivares
- Unidad de Virologia Molecular, Laboratorio de Referencia e Investigación en Retrovirus, Centro Nacional de Microbiologia, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Concepción Casado
- Unidad de Virologia Molecular, Laboratorio de Referencia e Investigación en Retrovirus, Centro Nacional de Microbiologia, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Concepción Casado,
| | - Cecilio Lopez-Galindez
- Unidad de Virologia Molecular, Laboratorio de Referencia e Investigación en Retrovirus, Centro Nacional de Microbiologia, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Cecilio Lopez-Galindez,
| | - Julià Blanco
- Institut de Recerca de la Sida IrsiCaixa, Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Barcelona, Spain
- Chair of Infectious Diseases and Immunity, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Barcelona, Spain
- Julià Blanco,
| | - Agustín Valenzuela-Fernández
- Unidad de Farmacología, Sección de Medicina, Laboratorio de Inmunología Celular y Viral, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
- *Correspondence: Agustín Valenzuela-Fernández,
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HIV-1 Envelope Glycosylation and the Signal Peptide. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:vaccines9020176. [PMID: 33669676 PMCID: PMC7922494 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9020176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 02/07/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The RV144 trial represents the only vaccine trial to demonstrate any protective effect against HIV-1 infection. While the reason(s) for this protection are still being evaluated, it serves as justification for widespread efforts aimed at developing new, more effective HIV-1 vaccines. Advances in our knowledge of HIV-1 immunogens and host antibody responses to these immunogens are crucial to informing vaccine design. While the envelope (Env) protein is the only viral protein present on the surface of virions, it exists in a complex trimeric conformation and is decorated with an array of variable N-linked glycans, making it an important but difficult target for vaccine design. Thus far, efforts to elicit a protective humoral immune response using structural mimics of native Env trimers have been unsuccessful. Notably, the aforementioned N-linked glycans serve as a component of many of the epitopes crucial for the induction of potentially protective broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). Thus, a greater understanding of Env structural determinants, most critically Env glycosylation, will no doubt be of importance in generating effective immunogens. Recent studies have identified the HIV-1 Env signal peptide (SP) as an important contributor to Env glycosylation. Further investigation into the mechanisms by which the SP directs glycosylation will be important, both in the context of understanding HIV-1 biology and in order to inform HIV-1 vaccine design.
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Digban TO, Iweriebor BC, Nwodo UU, Okoh AI, Obi LC. Chemokine Coreceptor Usage Among HIV-1 Drug-Naive Patients Residing in the Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 2020; 36:688-696. [PMID: 32466656 DOI: 10.1089/aid.2020.0066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Sub-Saharan region in Africa still holds the highest burden of HIV/AIDS globally. HIV-1 requires coreceptor to gain entry into permissive cells to initiate infection. Molecular analysis of the chemokine coreceptor usage is important clinically and in the effective management of AIDS virus. This study aims to determine the coreceptor usage among HIV-1 drug-naive patients residing in the rural Eastern cape, South Africa. We collected blood samples from 55 HIV-infected patients into an anticoagulant vacutainer. RNA was extracted from separated plasma, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed followed by nested polymerase chain reaction to amplify the partial envelope fragment spanning the C2-C3 region. Sanger sequencing was done on the amplicons using the BigDye Terminator V3.1 sequencing kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) while sequences were manually edited using BioEdit and Geneious 10.2.6 tools. The WebPSSM and Geno2pheno online tools were also utilized to predict coreceptor tropism while the phylogenetic analysis of the isolates was determined using MEGA 7. Of the 55 blood samples collected for the study, 50 (91%) were successfully amplified and sequenced. The mean age of the patients was 32 (18-56) years while the ratio of men to women was 35% and 65% correspondingly. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all 50 sequences clustered with HIV-1 subtype C reference strains. Viral tropism of the V3 loop revealed 47 sequences to be R5 strains, while three sequences (T1E, T10E, and T11E,) were classified as X4 strains based on the WebPSSM and the Geno2pheno algorithm. HIV-1 R5 tropic strains were the most dominant virus obtained from this study, while HIV-1 subtype C still drives the epidemic in South Africa suggesting greater in vivo and host pathogen fitness. Documented data on mapping out cellular tropism based on viral tropism are important as maraviroc and the other CCR5 antagonist could be introduced as part of the treatment regimen in South Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tennison Onoriode Digban
- SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa
- Applied Environmental and Microbiology Research Group, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa
| | - Benson Chucks Iweriebor
- School of Science and Technology, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Uchechukwu U. Nwodo
- SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa
| | - Anthony Ifeanyi Okoh
- SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa
- Applied Environmental and Microbiology Research Group, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa
| | - Larry Chikwelu Obi
- School of Science and Technology, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa
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