Abstract
HIV-1 Tat activates viral transcription and limited Tat transactivation correlates with latency establishment. We postulated a “block-and-lock” functional cure approach based on properties of the Tat inhibitor didehydro-Cortistatin A (dCA). HIV-1 transcriptional inhibitors could block ongoing viremia during antiretroviral therapy (ART), locking the HIV promoter in persistent latency. We investigated this hypothesis in human CD4+ T cells isolated from aviremic individuals. Combining dCA with ART accelerates HIV-1 suppression and prevents viral rebound after treatment interruption, even during strong cellular activation. We show that dCA mediates epigenetic silencing by increasing nucleosomal occupancy at Nucleosome-1, restricting RNAPII recruitment to the HIV-1 promoter. The efficacy of dCA was studied in the bone marrow-liver-thymus (BLT) mouse model of HIV latency and persistence. Adding dCA to ART-suppressed mice systemically reduces viral mRNA in tissues. Moreover, dCA significantly delays and reduces viral rebound levels upon treatment interruption. Altogether, this work demonstrates the potential of block-and-lock cure strategies. Tat inhibitors are amenable to functional cure approaches, which aim to reduce residual viremia during ART and limit viral rebound during treatment interruption. Using didehydro-Cortistatin A (dCA), Kessing et al. demonstrate the concept in human CD4+ T cells from aviremic individuals and in the bone marrow-liver-thymus mouse model of HIV latency.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 600-611 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Cell Reports |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 17 2017 |
Keywords
- HIV latency
- HIV-1
- HIV-1 transcription
- Tat inhibitor
- block-and-lock
- didehydro-Cortistatin A
- epigenetics
- humanized mouse model
- infected CD4+T cells
- latent reservoir
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology