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Tietjen I, Schonhofer C, Sciorillo A, Naidu ME, Haq Z, Kannan T, Kossenkov AV, Rivera-Ortiz J, Mounzer K, Hart C, Gyampoh K, Yuan Z, Beattie KD, Rali T, Shuda McGuire K, Davis RA, Montaner LJ. The Natural Stilbenoid (-)-Hopeaphenol Inhibits HIV Transcription by Targeting Both PKC and NF-κB Signaling and Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 9. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2023; 67:e0160022. [PMID: 36975214 PMCID: PMC10112218 DOI: 10.1128/aac.01600-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite effective combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), people living with HIV (PLWH) continue to harbor replication-competent and transcriptionally active virus in infected cells, which in turn can lead to ongoing viral antigen production, chronic inflammation, and increased risk of age-related comorbidities. To identify new agents that may inhibit postintegration HIV beyond cART, we screened a library of 512 pure compounds derived from natural products and identified (-)-hopeaphenol as an inhibitor of HIV postintegration transcription at low to submicromolar concentrations without cytotoxicity. Using a combination of global RNA sequencing, plasmid-based reporter assays, and enzyme activity studies, we document that hopeaphenol inhibits protein kinase C (PKC)- and downstream NF-κB-dependent HIV transcription as well as a subset of PKC-dependent T-cell activation markers, including interleukin-2 (IL-2) cytokine and CD25 and HLA-DRB1 RNA production. In contrast, it does not substantially inhibit the early PKC-mediated T-cell activation marker CD69 production of IL-6 or NF-κB signaling induced by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). We further show that hopeaphenol can inhibit cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) enzymatic activity required for HIV transcription. Finally, it inhibits HIV replication in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) infected in vitro and dampens viral reactivation in CD4+ cells from PLWH. Our study identifies hopeaphenol as a novel inhibitor that targets a subset of PKC-mediated T-cell activation pathways in addition to CDK9 to block HIV expression. Hopeaphenol-based therapies could complement current antiretroviral therapy otherwise not targeting cell-associated HIV RNA and residual antigen production in PLWH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian Tietjen
- The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Cole Schonhofer
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | - Maya E Naidu
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Zahra Haq
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | | | | | - Karam Mounzer
- Jonathan Lax Immune Disorders Treatment Center, Philadelphia Field Initiating Group for HIV-1 Trials, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Colin Hart
- The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Kwasi Gyampoh
- The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Zhe Yuan
- The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Karren D Beattie
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Topul Rali
- School of Natural and Physical Sciences, The University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
| | | | - Rohan A Davis
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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